A little bit of everything!

My Report on my Annual Jane Austen Tea Party! (yes I know I am a month late in reporting this!)

2012-01-27T16:48:00.000-08:00

I have some events that I need to write about that happened in December. The first is, of course, my Jane Austen Birthday Tea party that was held on Dec. 14^th (her actual birthday is Dec. 16^th). So we will call this “catching up time”!

As I mentioned, we had our Jane tea party on Dec 14^th, due to the fact that Thursdays are “Grandma Day” at my house and it takes me a day to recover from that, so Wednesdays are the best day for me. I have such great friends that are Jane Austen enthusiasts, which humor me and make it fun for all.

This year I even had 2 cuties dress up with me, which is not required and is above and beyond, but they were adorable!

My adorable daughter in law, Suzi, with me. We are doing, what we now in our family affectionately call, "a Suzi pose".

Caitlin Porter, the second biggest Jane Austen fan (next to me...or maybe we are tied)!

We even had a trivia contest and the prize went to Kim although it was a hard fought battle that went into a 3 question over time, due to a tie on the quiz. Kim won the prize by answering the final question of “What was Jane’s sister’s name?” The answer is Cassandra.

Nancy, Leslie, Kim (the winner), Lori, Joan, and Teresa

(starting from the front and going clockwise),LaDawn, Sheli, Diana, Suzi, Rochelle, Bonnie, and Marie. Marie is the only "Jane Austen heathen" here that I am trying to convert.

But when she won, no one was surprised, since she had studied Jane Austen at Oxford University!!!

Carrie. Anita, Ora, Caroline, Caitlin, (Dorothy was here but had to leave before I remembered to take a group shot)

I served chicken salad, egg salad and cucumber sandwiches, berry tarts, lemon cookies, creame(no I didn't spell it wrong, this is how it is spelled in England) wafers, strawberries, scones with clotted creame and fruit preserves, a variety of teas and a pot of wassail.

Anyway, it was a fun day, with great friends, great conversation, great fun and I love my friends who like to come every year.

If you are a Jane Austen fan, I highly suggest you start this tradition!

Sourdough Any One?

2011-12-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

I grew up on sourdough. My dad had a crock of sourdough starter in our home my whole childhood and he still has it today and I am 53 years old! Usually on Saturday's, he would make breakfast and it always involved sourdough in some way.

A few years ago on my first trip to England with my husband and parents, we accidentally found a Roman Villa that was being excavated. It is the Chedworth Roman Villa in the Cotswold's. When we visited it, they had a demonstration of how the Romans used sourdough in their cooking. Well, my dad was in heaven, and really chatted up the young lady that was in charge of that demo and exhibit. It was pretty funny to watch him get so excited about sourdough and comparing notes and recipes.

Chedworth Roman Villa

Well, I am ready to take the plunge and start my own sourdough starter. My dad said it is best to get a cup of someone else's starter and build from that, but I don't know anyone that has some except him, so I am starting from scratch.
Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup water
1 T yeast
Soften yeast in water then add:
1 cup flour.
Mix well, cover and place in a warm spot for 2-3 days. It should be bubbly (is that even a word?). Then every other day, add another cup of flour and another 1/2 c water and mix it in until you have the quantity you desire.
One important things to remember, NEVER use anything that is metal when mixing or storing your starter. I don't know why. Dad didn't say why, he just said don't! He did threaten me never to let my starter die. OOOOO I am so scared!
Well, I will begin this experiment/adventure next week since I am leaving to go out of town in a couple of days, but I just wanted you all to be prepared and get ready to enjoy the ride!
I plan on documenting this with pictures!

The Perfect Journal Suggestion-easy and fun!

2011-11-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

I love catalogs! Well, not every catalog but there are a few that I love to get and look through. I am basically a sucker when there is ANYTHING dealing with Shakespeare, Jane Austen, books, gardening supplies and grandkids stuff.

One of my favorite catalogs is Bas Bleu (pronounced: bä blu͂ ). I recently found something in there last catalog that I found very intriguing. It is a 5 year journal. Now you may ask, what is so different about this? The difference is that this one has a different question on each day and all you have to do is answer the question. In answering that question, you are able to record little snippets of your life that when finished with the 5 years, you will have recorded quite a bit of information about your life!

Some of the questions are: “When did you last hold a baby”, “describe the room you are in right now”, “where do you go for good ideas”, and “how could today have been better”. Some of the questions are quite thought provoking that I have found it hard to fit the answers in the allotted room of the page.

I have tried several types of methods of journaling before but without long-term success because I feel it is important for various reasons. The first reason is that it is good for me to be able to look aback and remember things that happened to me in my life that may not have been “momentous”, but worth remembering, that I would have otherwise forgotten. Another reason is that someday, some of my posterity may be interested in what I was like or did during my life. Not that I have done anything wonderful, but I have loved ready stories left by my ancestors and wished there were more. Just reading about their everyday life is interesting because it was so different from how I live.

Click here to go to their web site if you think this is a product you may be interested in.

Let me know if you have found an easy way to journal that works for you also. So far I have been doing this for 2 weeks and that is the longest I have kept a journal regularly since I started trying to keep a journal 36 years ago! Happy journaling!

The Hunger Games-May the odds be ever in your favor!

2011-10-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

Three of my daughters (well, technically one is a daughter in-law but she is a daughter to me), had been after me for at least 2 years to read the book The Hunger Games. After hearing the premise of the story, I was surprised that they would think I would enjoy it. The thought of reading a book where, in a future world, in the country of Panem (formally the USA) and food is scarce, 12 districts (kind of like Provinces) were forced to enter 2 or their children between the ages of 12-18 years old in a competition the “Capitol” called the hunger games each year. In this competition the 24 kids would kill each other in a “themed” arena, in order to win the coveted price of extra food for their district for the next year and a few other perks and prizes. These hunger games had been going on for the past 73 years.
Now for someone who loves a happy ending and will READ the ending before starting a book to make sure it is happy, I just couldn’t see how it would be possible to have a happy ending in this book! I found out I was TOTALLY WRONG!!!!!

I have never read a more exciting book, but I will warn you, make sure you start it when you have a lot of free time because once you finish the first one you will HAVE to read the 2 sequels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. I am glad I finally read them after all three books were out because I couldn’t have waited 1 ½ -2 years in between the books. They are insanely exciting!

To the book- As mentioned above, the 12 districts were ruled over with an iron fist by the “Capitol” with their peacekeepers. Each district specializes in producing something the Capitol needs to survive. For example, District 3 produce general electronics, Four-fishing, Seven-Lumber, Eleven-Agriculture, and Twelve-mining, just to name a few.

There had been 13 Districts at one time but District 13 rebelled and started a Civil war and after the Capitol beat them, they were destroyed and the Capitol initiated the hunger games as a reminder to all the other Districts that they, the Capitol, are in control.

That is all background information that you find out in the first 2-3 chapters while we are also introduced to Katniss Everdeen from District 12 on the day of the reaping, which is the name of the occasion when each year the districts pick out the next 2 kids that will play in the hunger games. This year will be the 74th hunger games. Katniss has snuck out of the electric fenced in district to go to the woods to hunt, (which is forbidden), to try to calm her thoughts before the reaping begins that afternoon. Once the District inhabitants are assembled in the square for the drawing, the action of the story never lets up until the last sentence of the book.

Please read these books! They are very well written and have a lot of great lessons in them for kids! I wish I could go into more of the story but I don’t want to ruin any of the excitement for you. There are many great characters, like, Gale Hawthorne, who is Katniss’ best friend and hunting partner, Peeta Mellark, Effie Trinket, Hamish Abernathy, and many, many more. The author even is able to fit in a sweet little romance if you can imagine that in this book! Read it before the movie comes out next spring. I can hardly wait for it! Luckily, I can re-read the books to tide me over until is does. Enjoy the 74th hunger games and “May the odds be ever in your favor!"

Can We Create a New Non-Offending Hand Gesture?!?!

2011-10-07T18:48:00.000-07:00

Has this ever happened to you…you are driving along and someone does something that is stupid, dangerous or just rude to you? What can you do to let them know when the usual hand signal is also offensive to you and you would NEVER consider using it? What can a person do when they are extremely frustrated by the driving skills or behavior of another person and they want to let them know by making some sort of hand gesture, HOWEVER, the usual hand gesture that is used by the more crude and uneducated of our society is also the wrong thing to do?

I think we need to come up with a new proper hand gesture or signal that will let idiots know that we all know they are idiots BUT is a cultured and proper way. I have thought long and hard about this. Some have been shown to me occasionally when I have been…let’s say, less than attentive when driving and they get the message across without being crude and offensive. So I have been trying to decide what the best “polite” hand gesture should be and start teaching the world some new manners beginning with this.

One option would be, elbows bent, both hands out to your sides, shoulders shrugged and a look of “what in the world do you think you are doing” type of expression on your face. This however could be dangerous if you are driving since it is a 2 handed gesture. This could work if you have a passenger that is the designated “signer” that would interpret what you are saying and then sign it to the perpetrator of the offense.

Another option is to try to communicate to them as to what they should have done in order to help them in the future when faced with the same situation. However, this may take longer than is necessary and if it is a person of a certain gender, they don’t take direction from ladies very well.

The next one I thought of was trying to find out from someone who knows American Sign Language how to sign, “Where are your brains”? Maybe this can be done with one hand, but usually, sign language is so beautiful when it is being done correctly that the person may think you are saying something nice, unless you are making a very angry face while signing. Here again though, it may take too much effort when you are trying to still drive correctly and responsibly while trying to improve conditions in the world around you.

The last idea I had which seems the most direct and efficient would be to do the old, twirling of the finger up by your temple, thus let them know you think they are crazy and shouldn’t be driving. This would be effective if it wasn’t used so much already to signify stupidity is almost every other area of life. No, we need something just for idiot drivers and I am still at a loss as to how best to let them know what I think of them. Until I can come up with something, I will continue to yell at them in my car where they will never hear a thing I say, and maybe that is safer for all involved.

Documentries Can Be Fun Also!

2011-10-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

I don’t seek out documentaries to watch but occasionally there is one that catches my eye, either by the content, review or word of mouth. “Exporting Raymond” was one I saw a trailer of on imdb.com after seeing that it was playing at a local theater.

I have always loved the TV show “Everybody Loves Raymond” and seeing the behind the scenes business of shows and movies are one of my favorite things so being able to see the process of a TV show being created in a different country was VERY intriguing. My husband was a harder sell until I got him to watch the trailer and he was willing to give it a try.

Phil Rosenthal was the creator of the TV show, “Everybody Loves Raymond” (ELR). After the show wrapped up production for US television, he was contacted by the Sony company about the possibility of re-creating the show in Russia. He was surprised at some of the American shows that had been successfully remade in other countries. He agreed to proceed with this opportunity and headed for Russia, after bidding goodbye to his colorful family, many who were inspirations for the story lines in ELR. Immediately in Russia, it is not the contrast of cultures that is what makes this documentary so enjoyable to watch but it is Rosenthal’s reaction to all that happens around him that is so funny. He is hilarious, not just his comments but his face registers every feeling he is experiencing without having to say a word many times. (see the trailer at the link below):

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi92380441/

The show is eventually made but that doesn’t ruin seeing the process that goes into it finally coming to fruition. If you don’t think you would like to watch a documentary, try this one. It is just fun! Even if you have never even seen an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond”!

Don't be shocked...I am back after a 5 month spell of laziness with a movie review of "Seducing Dr. Lewis"

2011-09-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do in my free time or for entertainment is watch a good movie. I don’t care if I have seen a movie many times; I will watch it again and enjoy it as much as the first time. I recently got a movie on net flix entitled “Seducing Dr. Lewis”. It is a foreign movie, (if you call Quebec, Canada foreign), and it is in French, which is such a beautiful language to listen to.

The movie is set in a quaint little fishing village in Quebec that is experiencing the effects of the bad economy and many of the 100+ citizens are out of work, or barely getting by. A company has agreed to build a factory in the area IF the village leaders can get a full time doctor to live and practice there. The former mayor of the village, who has had to accept a job in the nearest big city, promises his friends before he leaves that he will try to help them find a doctor and get him to come. Meanwhile, the village leaders send out many requests to try to entice one to come but none have even thought twice about considering it. Then one night, while the former mayor is on duty as a policeman, he pulls over a man who has some marijuana in his car. As he is going through the arrest process he comes to find out that the driver is also a doctor. They make a deal that he (the former mayor, now policeman) will not process this arrest warrant IF the doctor will agree to visit this village and treat the people for 2 weeks. The doctor of course accepts this proposal rather than loose his license.

Now the village prepares for him to come. They learn all they can about him, his likes, dislikes, hobbies, sports, favorite food etc. They also fix up the town to make it as picturesque as possible in preparation of his coming.

They leave nothing to chance in order to keep this doctor in the village and that is where the comedy begins. Several things happened to the plan by chance and with luck, but the journey to the end of the story is a fun ride.

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this fun and different comedy. If you still aren’t convinced that you would like a foreign film due to the sub-titles, this is a fun one to try to see with. Check it out and let me know what you think.

I Now Know Who John Galt Is!!!

2011-05-03T17:08:00.000-07:00

First, let me say, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, was not a book that I would have read on my own accord. I was stressed out enough in the sixth installment of the Harry Potter books, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when Professor Umbridge took over the school and kept adding new policies and directives.

So, a book about the Government usurping power from the people of America was just too frightening and in my opinion too relevant in today’s world.

However, the book was recommended to me by my friend Kim, as a gift idea for my husband, who is impossible to buy gifts for, but he is a news junkie.

Kim, on our trip in Belgium

He is one of these people that if he wants something, he buys it(if we have the money), and so there is never a “wish list” for me when it comes to birthdays, and Christmas. It is very frustrating but…that is a topic for another blog.

Anyway, Bruce, my husband, commutes between 80-90 miles a day to work so he listens to many podcasts while in the car. So a book on CD was really a perfect gift idea. It would take weeks to listen to all 50 CD’s! Well, he still hasn’t listened to it; another gift bites the dust… (again, rants for that other blog post).

To justify the money spent on yet another ignored gift (can you tell I am bitter?), I adopted the cd’s and began listening to it. I was immediately hooked into the story of Dagny Taggart, the strong but still feminine businesswoman, and the Taggart Transcontinental Railroad Company.

The characters were very 3 dimensional for me also. Actually, the one character that was the LEAST 3 dimensional was John Galt. Maybe it was because he was in the shadows for most of the book so he wasn’t as developed as the other characters were, like, the ingenious Hank Reardon, pathetic Jim Taggart, devoted Eddie Willers, and the nauseating Wesley Mouch, and the others that we interacted with regularly. But despite that, it was the characters that got me emotionally involved in their lives.

Again, I wonder if this is because of the political climate of today and you could put real faces to the fictional names in the story, but it made the story very engrossing and I looked for opportunities to get in my car just so I could listen to it. Luckily it was before the awful jump in the gas prices.

I marveled at how, no matter what the government threw at businesses to take more power and initiative away from them, Dagny was able to find a way to work around it. I also found it ironic that it was a woman who didn’t give up when all the businessmen did.

Ayn Rand

I wonder if Ayn Rand felt she was being a bit sexist in making Dagny the last holdout in fighting against the government, or maybe just giving women more of the power she felt they deserved in the ‘50s when this was published.

SPOILER ALERT!!! I did have to borrow the book from Kim so I could read the ending a few times to reassure myself that the “people” would prevail over the government because I got very discouraged at times by all the power that the government was able to usurp from the businesses and the individuals that created and ran them.

There were a couple of points in the book that seemed a bit implausible to me, the first was the "refractor waves". I am not a scientist so I don’t know if “refractor waves” really do what the book says they do, but either way, it was still very entertaining. The other point was who Dagny ended up “being with” in the end. I won’t name names but she had much more passion for the first two men in her life, than the one she decided to stay with at the conclusion, but at least it was a happy ending.

I highly recommend this book to EVERYONE, no matter what side of the political fence you are on. I don’t know if it would change anyone’s mind in what policies they think are right or wrong but, it did really made me think about the world we live in today and what could possibly happen in the future if we stay on the same path we are on now.

Yes, Russian's Can Be Funny!

2011-04-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

If you have been following my posts, you know I have to have happy endings. That is why I stay away from Russian novels, and movies. I have never seen or heard of one that is happy! Until now.

You don’t have to love classical music or have an interest in it, to enjoy a new Russian movie out now called, The Concert. Now, I will shock you by saying that it is a comedy and it has a very happy ending, and yes, it is Russian.

The plot is about the renowned conductor of the Bolshoi Orchestra, Andrei Simoniovich Filipov, played by Alexei Guskov, who was unfairly fired during a performance, 30 years previously, and now works as a janitor in the Bolshoi Theater.

Alexei Guskov

One day, as he is working, Andrei intercepts and a fax from Paris, asking the Bolshoi Orchestra to perform in Paris in two weeks, due to a sudden cancellation of an American Orchestra.

Andrei decides immediately that instead of turning over the invitation to the current conductor of the Bolshoi, he would round up his orchestra from 30 years ago and go and do the performance in France, thus hoping to have a comeback in the classical music world.

Melanie Laurent

I don’t want to give away why he was fired because that is part of his main reason that he HAS to play in Paris, with a very particular violin soloist named Anne-Marie Jacquet (played by Melanie Laurent), that lives in Paris. The comedy starts as he begins to locate his old orchestra members and sees what they are doing in their lives today.

The details are in chaos but they pull it off due to some very ingenious conning on the part of their “manager”, who is still a closet communist.

The back story of the movie is very touching as to why Andrei was fired and the consequences to some of the Orchestra members’ lives. It all culminates at the amazing performance in Paris by the orchestra and the violin soloist, when you get all the questions answered.

You will want to give them a standing ovation at the end because it is so great! Search out this movie and if it doesn’t make it to your area, make a note and rent it when you can. It is one you should not miss!

Watch the trailer here: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2727544345/

Me...Obsessive-Compulsive? Not Anymore, I've been Cured!!!!

2011-03-04T10:55:00.000-08:00

I always considered myself a very adaptable person, however, recently I had to make a change in my life that I found very difficult to do. Let me explain.

Growing up, my Mother was very good at giving me and my sibling’s responsibilities. We had jobs to do at regular times and days, but our big cleaning day was always Friday’s. It was always so nice to get all the cleaning done and then on Saturdays we would not have jobs, or we did extra jobs as needed.

I carried this schedule with me when I got married and we started having our own family. Mind you, I don’t enjoy cleaning like some people do, but I love a clean home, so I crank up the Bollywood tunes and dance my way through it, keeping my mind on the prize. Over the years, my kids wore me down as to how much, and how well they did their “jobs” but we always stuck with the “Friday was our big cleaning day” schedule.

Recently, I have taken on more “things” in my life, namely starting an in-home business, which I love and am happy to do, but all these extra things seemed to constantly prevent me from having the time to get my entire home cleaned by Friday afternoon. For several months, I was discouraged by not getting it done all at the same time, and it seemed like I was always cleaning instead of ever getting it done! I finally accepted the fact that I would never have a clean house all at once!

Then I had an epiphany!!!

I realized that since I am at home all day on Monday’s, without any set commitments, that maybe I should start to do my cleaning on Mondays! I resisted this thought for several weeks because, well, it just wasn’t “me”!

Getting more frustrated I looked at my schedule one day and realized that just for one time only, I would clean on Monday. The house is usually a bit messy on Monday’s because we have the kids and grand kids over for Sunday dinner each week, so I was “cleaning” anyway, but this time I did the thorough cleaning that I normally did on Fridays. The result was magical!!! Not only did I have time to get it done, but it was so nice to START the week with a clean house instead of END the week with a clean house.

So I learned from this experience that I need to be more adaptable when it comes to routine things in my life. I have always had a schedule with a daily list of things to tick off, but now I know I can move things around and still get to tick chores and errands off a list so that I feel I have accomplished something that day.

In other words I have “loosened up” without having to compromise things that are important to me. This was a BIG step for me!!!

"Gnomeo and Juliet"...Shakespeare for Kids!!

2011-02-22T12:31:00.000-08:00

Now I am not one of those purists that need to have her Austen or Shakespeare exactly as they were written. I think the more variations there are, the more of them there will be. Well, for the first time that I can think of, a variation has been done for children and I think that is amazing!!!

Gnomeo and Juliet is a version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet that will please not only children and adults but it will especially please those of us who hate the ending of the “real” play. I was wondering how they would handle it in a kids movie and it was perfect!!!

First I must say that I am a sucker for ANYTHING James McAvoy is in.

Not that I have seen everything he has done but he is a very talented actor! But when along with him you have Emily Blunt, Maggie Smith and Michael Caine, and then the music of Elton John and you just can’t go wrong with this movie.

There are multiple “Shakespeare” references which only a real Shakespeare buff would catch but you don’t have to have ever even heard of the Bard to enjoy this movie. This is how Shakespeare should be introduced to children. In fact, he should NEVER be introduced to beginners by reading his plays. That is a sure fire way to turn them off. His plays should be seen! But don’t get me started on this! That is for my next blog!

Anyway, back to the movie. You have the red yard, or the Capulet home, and the blue yard which is the Montague home. Juliet, lives in the red yard and Gnomeo in the blue and the gnomes in these 2 yards have been feuding for so long, no one even remembers why.

One day, the two star crossed lovers meet accidently in an abandoned yard, both trying to get the same flower and it is love at first site.

There are many fun characters that are also introduced that move the story entertainingly along. The best I think is the statue of W. Shakespeare in the park that Gnomeo is explaining the problem of his love story to, and the statue tells him how his love story is going to end, but Gnomeo refuses to let it end how the play does.

I won’t tell anymore but this very fun movie is great for all ages and since we all had to READ (again, don’t get me started on how stupid it is to do this to students), Romeo and Juliet, you will recognize most of the lines and puns from the play that are used in this movie. The musical score is an A++++ bonus as Elton John is at his best with old favorites and a couple of new songs for the soundtrack. I will defiantly get it on iTunes!

Don’t wait for the DVD to go see this in the theaters. It is worth it. We didn’t see it in 3D and it was great. If you did see it in 3D, let me know if it was worth the extra $$$$. I don’t think we missed out on anything. Enjoy!!!

For The Electronic Geek in Your Life...

2011-02-17T14:57:00.000-08:00

It is impossible to get a gift for some people. Like my Husband, other than work, he has only one interest and that is electronics and I know nothing about that! Well, I found a book that is perfect for this type of person.

"It's A Book" is a very short but VERY humorous look at how eletronic geeks deal with the concept of something that can't blog, tweet, instant message, scroll, re-charge, or anything that has to do with a cord or wi-fi.

It only takes about 1 minute to read but you will be laughing by the third page and continue to laugh the end. The author, Lane Smith, REALLY got to the funny side of this topic instantly with the witty conversation between this jackass and the monkey.

A friend of mine who is a teacher, after reading it said, EVERY teacher should have this book just to have a good laugh now and then.

Check it out. It is in the "Humor" section of the bookstore where I found it, after looking for it in the children's section for a while. Enjoy it and let me know what you think of it!

"What is that you read, my Lord? Words, words, word. (Hamlet a2s2)

2011-02-04T15:07:00.000-08:00

A word can hold so many pictures for the imagination.

I love reading books that use words so well that I can see a picture in my mind just from the descriptive words I read. A few months ago I signed up with the web-site, dictionary.com, to get a new “word a day” sent to me by email. I love learning new words, especially if they are interesting. I have started saving some of my favorite words, hopefully, for someday when I write a book and I can use them. Here are a few of the words that I have really liked:

Acedia: laziness or indifference in religious matters

Nitid: bright, lustrous

Kenspeckle: easily seen or recognized

And there are many more. However, one of my favorite words that I have learned is “evanescence” and it means; a gradual disappearance, or the state of becoming imperceptible. Isn’t that a beautiful word?

I can see using it in some type of fairy story, or a mystery maybe.

Another of my favorite words comes from one of my favorite Shakespeare plays.

In Henry V, act 4 scene 4, the King is praying the night before the battle of Agincourt with the French. In this prayer, he says this:

…But, like a lackey, from the rise to set

Sweats in the eye of Phoebus and all night

Sleeps in Elysium;…

It is the word “Elysium”. I wondered what it meant to “sleep in Elysium”. It sounds wonderful. Just from the context of the word, it sounds like a deep, peaceful, and restful sleep. So I looked it up and it means: A place or condition of ideal happiness. Now, knowing the definition, it makes being able to “sleep in Elysium” sound even more wonderful.

Even now, I find myself, after a rare night of solid sleep without my crazy dreams that I have regularly, waking up to the thought of this night I slept in Elysium. Doesn’t that sound so much more beautiful than to say you had a good night’s sleep?

So my challenge to all of you is to start using more frabjous words to describe our lives!

An Amazing Movie about the Many Aspects of “Love” in an Adoption- கன்னத்தில் முத்தமிட்டால் (“A Peck on the Cheek”).

2011-01-20T15:04:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I blogged, but sometimes I feel like I just don’t have anything to say that would interest anyone who may stumble on this site and read it, however…now I do!

A Peck on the Cheek (2002)

OK, before you DON’T read this review about this amazing Indian movie, let me say this isn’t a normal Bollywood movie! So please read on!

First off, "A Peck on the Cheek", wasn’t made in the Mumbai film industry; therefore it isn’t technically a “bollywood” movie. It was made in the South of India in the Tamil Nadu region.

The movie begins with an arranged marriage ceremony taking place, in the country of Sri Lanka. The first time the couple had met was on their wedding day, since the marriage was arranged by the brides (Shyama) older brother. The couple get to know each other in the following days and fall in love but Shyama is shocked when her husband’s declares he does not want any children, at least not until there is peace in Sri Lanka from the civil war that is taking place at the time. They accidentally get involved in an uprising and Dhileepan, her husband disappears. As the situation gets worse in Sri Lanka, and Shyama realizes she is already pregnant, her father makes her board a refugee boat headed for Southern India where in a refugee camp she has the baby. Upon hearing that some other refugees had seen her husband before leaving, she leaves her baby in a Red Cross Camp orphanage and goes back to Sri Lanka.

Now at this point, I was wondering, how could she ever do this? But as the story progresses, I came to realize that what this mother did was amazingly unselfish.

You next see the baby, Amudha (P.S. Keerthana), now a high spirited, fun 8 year old, at school, and we learn that she has been adopted by loving parents, has 2 younger brothers, and has a wonderful life. However, her world is turned upside down when on her 9th birthday, her parents tell her that she was adopted.

She is now almost obsessed with finding out the truth of her parents, her birth, and what brought her to India. Her adopted parents realize she will not rest until she does so they take her back to Sri Lanka to find her mother, but the unrest is still going on and they have a few close calls on their adventure. The romance between her parents is so sweet as they are reminiscing with the children about how their family began. No spoiler alerts because that is all I will say about the story except that it has a wonderful ending.

The acting is really good and it isn’t at all melodramatic (which, by the way, I love!) as is common in Indian movies.

Madhavan

Simran

Nandita Das

The adopted parents are played by Tamil actors Madhavan (Thiruchelvan) and Simran (Indra), both were awesome! I first saw Madhavan in the great movie "Guru" and look forward to seeing him in others. Amudha's birth mother was played by Nandita Das and was equally amazing. Both of these women were so beautiful too!

The music was written by one of my favorite composers, A.R. Rahman. In particular, the 2 musical numbers with the parents and the daughter are especially poignant. The scenes shot in southern India and Sri Lanka will make you want to visit each of these areas! It also has won numerous awards around the world in various film festivals.

This is such an amazing movie and I recommend it to anyone who doesn’t mind sub-titles, but even if you don’t like them, WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!!! You will be rewarded and uplifted!

The SECOND Best Picture of the Christmas Season

2010-12-20T15:01:00.000-08:00

I love to have my younger grand kids over weekly for Grandma day. The first day they came over after all the Christmas decorations were up, I took them around and we put red stickers on the decorations they couldn't play with and green stickers on the ones they could play with. One of the "green sticker" decorations that they can play with is a small Santa that reads the book, "The Night Before Christmas" in it's entirety. His mouth moves and his eyes look around as he is reading.
After lunch this same day, I was cleaning up and the kids were exploring. I stopped briefly to check on them and I found the 3 older kids, Mr. C, Miss S and Miss E, laying on their tummies listening to Santa read the story. It was the perfect picture so I ran as fast as I could to get the camera but by the time I got back the 2 girls had moved, but it was still a cute picture.

I took it quickly before they moved anymore and Mr. C was surprised by me taking the picture. The girls didn't even notice they were so involved in the story.

It was so cute I just wanted to share it with you all. Here are a few others of them trying on the Santa hats that I have for them to play with. Merry Christmas!!!

Happy 235th Birthday to Jane Austen!!!

2010-12-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

Jane Austen-born December 16, 1775

Tomorrow marks the 235th Birthday of Jane Austen. She is one of the world’s greatest, and most well known authors. For the past few years, I have been commemorating her birthday by having a Jane Austen birthday tea party, either on or near her birth date. Since I have my grandkids come over on Thursdays to play, I instead held my "tea party" today.

I invite die hard “Jane Austen” fans. They don’t necessarily have to have read her books, but if they love the movies made from her books, that is just as good. I do have 2-3 friends whom I invite that I label as “people I’m trying to convert to Jane”, and they know who they are…ahem…Marie and Tammy… (I don't need to say anymore about them, but one day we will get them to convert!). This event is just a fun time to sit and talk with other Jane enthusiasts about her books.

For today’s menu I offered an assortment of herbal teas, the most popular being the Almond Sunset and Berry Berry flavors, based on the comments that I heard. I also had Chicken Salad, Egg Salad, and Cucumber Sandwiches; strawberries, tea scones with clotted cream, lemon curd, or fruit preserves to put on top of the sweet scones.

Leslie, Kathy, Susan, Emily, Ora, Alicia, and Anita

Melissa, Alicia, Jennifer, Sheli, Me (with the goofey hat), Dorothy, and Tiffany

Nancy, Theresa, Caroline, Kathy, Kathy, Leslie, and Joan

Dorothy, Tiffany, Marie (taking a picture of me taking a picture...too weird), and Sheli

Jennifer, Alicia, Melissa, Anita, and Ora

I just know Marie secretly wants my JA action figure!!!

The desserts were lemon cake cookies, banana spice cookies, cream wafers, caramel shortbread cookies, and sugar cake (from a mix I picked up in a bakery in Old Salem, North Carolina).

I decorated the tables with sayings and excerpts of her books and letters. I had a stack of questions on each table for those who wanted to see how well they knew her books. I even had my “Pride and Prejudice” board game out but no one wanted to play with me. My Jane Austen action figures were the best part of the table decorations along with flowers potted in tea cups. (Yes, I am over the top!)

I also got a new dress for the party (Thanks Wendy!!!). I love dressing up and this is probably the “real” reason I have a tea party, so I have an excuse to dress up once a year. We really had a very nice lunch and being able to have it this year outside was a real treat (75 degrees)!!! I love the winters in Arizona!!!

Me, in my new dress, trying to convert Marie!

Thank you to all my friends and Jane Austen fans for humoring me!!! And THANKS to Jane Austen for making our lives richer because of her amazing books!!! By the way, my favorite book of Jane's is Persuasion, and my favorite character is Anne Elliot (just in case anyone was wondering).

BBC's latest production of Persuasion...AWWW Rupert Penry Jones as Capt. Wentworth!!!!

This is my favorite movie version of the book!

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”

---Jane Austen

Show Off Our State To Your Out Of Town Christmas Company

2010-12-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

With the down-turn in the economy, many families may be staying home for the holidays or entertaining company. I wanted to share some of my favorite places in AZ to show off or to enjoy yourselves. We have the most amazing state with many things to see and do and at reasonable prices.
I will start with one of our family favorites. Start early in the day and head north on highway 87 towards the Payson area. Continue north to Tonto Natural Bridge.

Tonto Natural Bridge is an amazingly beautiful spot that changes with the seasons. In the spring there is a lot of water running through it and it may be difficult to get too far into the opening, but later in the summer when the runoff has slowed, there are several routes you can take into the bridge.

On hot days the water can be refreshing. The falls and the bridge are beautiful and the hike to reach them is not long at all and quite easy.

After spending as much time at the bridge as you would like, get back into the car for the next adventure. Continue north until you come to highway 260 and head west on it until you come to interstate 17. Turn north as if heading to Flagstaff but instead, take the Sedona turn off. By now you may be getting hungry for lunch and if you planned a picnic there are many beautiful spots to stop to eat, or stop at “Jose’s Café” just as you are coming into Oak Creek Village. It is a great café that serves yummy breakfasts all day, or get great sandwich or burger.

After stopping for lunch, head on up into Sedona and at the main round about in town, go to the right and head on up into Oak Creek Canyon to Slide Rock State Park.

Slide Rock State Park can get pretty busy in the summer but it is a lot of fun for the kids to swim and slide in the natural setting. There are plenty of shallow areas for little ones. Again, here there is more water flowing in the spring and early summer than later in the year so bring your swim suits along if you are going in the summer time and have some fun cooling off.

Now from Slide Rock you can either head back home to Mesa if you just want a day trip, or find a hotel in the area and stay the night. Hotel prices will be higher in Sedona, but there is Oak Creek Village or Cottonwood that has more reasonable rates and both very close by.

Day two: Spend the morning in east Sedona visiting the shops and galleries. The scenery is breathtaking. Sedona is really one of the most beautiful spots in Arizona but also one of the most expensive, so just look. Save your money for later. There are also many trails to hike if your family enjoys that. After spending the morning in Sedona, drive over to the west side of town and continue out of town on highway 89A towards Cottonwood. When you get to Cottonwood, follow the signs to Tuzigoot National Monument. It is only about 10-15 minutes from Cottonwood.

Tuzigoot National Monument are some great Native American ruins. My kids used to call it the original condominium complex because that is what it looks like. The prices are $5 per person, kids under 16 are free. They are open from 8-6 daily.

This is an interesting and quick site to visit. The kids will have a great time exploring. Then back in the car and follow the signs to my favorite spot in all of this beautiful state.

Jerome!

Jerome is an old mining town that in the past 20 years has had a rejuvenation as a spot to visit. You can spend a few days here or a few hours. Here is where you will find everything you wanted to buy in Sedona but at half to a third less expensive. There are galleries, museums, fun shops and many markers around town to read and learn about the history of the town. Unfortunately, I read that due to budget cuts, the Jerome State Park is temporarily closed which is too bad because it is a great little museum with many historical treasures from Jerome’s past heyday.

You will still want to drive over to it so you can get a great view of the town from a distance. You will want to walk through the streets, from the former red light district to the main street and on up the hill to the asylum.

You will have fun learning about all the ghosts that inhabit the homes and streets and see the city jail that has slid down the hill over 200 feet from it’s original site. My kids have always enjoyed visiting this town. There are several good restaurants also. Then it is time to head back to Mesa, or stay in one of the great B&B’s in Jerome. For less expensive hotels, go back down the hill to Cottonwood or Clarkdale if you are going to spend more than one day in Jerome. I hope this has got you excited to start your adventures here in Arizona.

Belgium “Belgian Waffles” are better than American “Belgian Waffles”!

2010-12-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

In America when you hear the words “Belgium Waffles” we think of breakfast, but I learned what a real Belgium Waffles was when I visited Bruges (or Brugge), Belgium this summer. There it means dessert! It is the most wonderful dessert. So delicious that we had one everyday that we were there! You could pick various toppings, but maple syrup wasn’t even a choice, thank goodness.

Once we got home, I started craving the Belgium waffles that we had had on our trip so I began to scour the internet for a recipe that was close to it and I finally found it. I tested it on the family one night for dessert and they all loved them. I had 3 topping available, powdered sugar, strawberries and whipped cream, and the last was a creamy topping like peanut butter but made of crushed up biscoff cookies. I can’t remember what it is called, but it was delicious!

I want to share the recipe with you and I hope you all try it for a new dessert some time. Here it is:

Belgian Waffle Recipe
For a Basic Belgian Waffle recipe we will need:
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon instant dried yeast
4 medium eggs
whole milk
two sticks butter
vanilla sugar
some salt

1. Take a cup of milk and heat it until it is lukewarm then mix in your yeast. You can now leave the yeast standing for a while.
2. In the mean time – melt the butter, but stop as soon as it melts, don’t over heat it or even burn it – you will lose the taste. You also need to...
3. ...separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and beat the egg whites until you get snow.
4. Now take a big giant huge bowl and throw in all the flour, vanilla sugar (one tablespoon) and some salt. Make a hole in the middle of the flour and fill it with melted butter, dissolved yeast and egg yolk.
5. Mix while you are adding milk. You should mix it really well so there are no lumps. The question you might ask here is how dense should the dough be, how much milk? It should be thick, think pancakes and then make it a bit thicker.
6. OK, now gently mix the beaten egg whites into the dough…and…STOP! Enough mixing :).
7. Leave the dough to rest and rise at room temperature for a while until the volume of the dough doubles or even triples! If you are in a hurry then wait for 30 minutes to one hour, but if you can, make the waffle dough in the evening and leave it overnight.
8. Use the oil to grease the waffle iron (which should be hot hot hot) so your waffles don't stick to it and pour the dough in it. Bake them until they turn golden brown.
9. Eat!
***As I mentioned above, we tried it at home with the 3 toppings mentioned. I hope you like it!

I found these instructions for making vanilla sugar also:

Vanilla sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, whole or scraped
• 2 cups granulated sugar
Directions
If vanilla bean is whole, slice down side of bean with back of knife and scrape seeds into airtight container with the sugar. Bury bean in sugar and seal tightly with lid. Let sit for 1 to 2 weeks. Use as regular, granulated sugar.

To make vanilla sugar with vanilla extract:

o INGREDIENTS

1 teaspoon vanilla extract ( to make it yourself see homemade vanilla extract)
1 cup of granulated sugar (any kind : white sugar or sugarcane)
o DIRECTION
Mix the vanilla extract with the sugar, that's it!

Taxes That We Can Be Happy With!!!

2010-11-23T19:17:00.000-08:00

So I think I have a solution to how much we as Americans should pay in taxes that seems fair to me. Let me clarify, I think taxes are WAY too high as it is and that the Government WASTES a lot of our tax dollars but I don’t think they can come up with a solution so I have come to their rescue.

The Democrats want to tax more, and the Republicans want to cut spending but can’t decide where to cut, so here is my plan.

Step 1: I think we, the TAX PAYING people should get a form with all the Government programs listed on it that our tax dollars go to as of 2010. NO NEW PROGRAMS CAN BE ADDED for the time being!!!

Step 2-We have to pay the SAME amount that we paid the year before in taxes, but we go down the list of programs and agencies and we divide OUR tax dollars up and commit it to where we feel they, or tax dollars, should go.

Step 3: At the end of the year, each agency and program would have their “budget” as assigned to them by the American people, and, like the people, they can’t spend more than they take in.

Now I realize this is an oversimplified process and there are some exceptions but really, EVERY government agency has a lot of waste and that can be cut back on significantly with this type of system. If no one wants to give $$$ to a certain program of agency, it can be done away with!

I also realize that our elected officials are suppose to be doing this, but they have proven that they can’t make hard decisions when it comes to cutting Government spending, so we need to take that job away from them!

If they were serious about cutting the out of control spending in Washington DC they would immediately cut every agencies budget by at least 10% or more(preferably more)! But they haven’t done that, even though I have heard it suggested by numerous economists as the fairest way to cut the waste.

"From the Files of Vish Puri, Most Private Investigator"

2010-11-20T05:57:00.000-08:00

I probably will never get to visit India.

So I guess some might say I am visiting vicariously through my Bollywood movies, and now through a new mystery series of books (2 so far) by the Author Tarquin Hall.

Now you may ask; how could an English author know enough about India, the culture, and the people to write a book about solving mysteries in India? Well, he knows quite a lot, since he is married to an Indian journalist and they divide their time between living in London and Delhi.

The Vish Puri mystery series is about a 51 year old, chubby, Indian private investigator that started Delhi's Most Private Investigators Ltd. He takes on variety of cases and is proud of the fact that he is the best PI in India! The style of the mysteries, kind of reminded me of “The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency” books since he is tackling a few investigations at the same time but since the culture is different it doesn’t feel like it is the same kind of story.

The first book is entitled, “The Case of the Missing Servant”. The main case of the book is about Ajay Kasliwal who is a powerful lawyer and has a record of prosecuting corrupt government leaders. Puri is hired to find Mary, a missing maid from Kasliwal home where she worked. A rumor is started that she may have been pregnant and so she was killed by Kasliwal. When her dead body turns up, Puri must find a way to clear his client. I was caught up in the mystery within the first few pages. I felt I could envision the type of man Vish Puri may look and act like. I also could feel and see the sights and sounds of India due to the great descriptions while reading the book.

The most helpful part of the book was a glossary at the back of the book that has the definitions and explanations of many Indian words and customs that make you feel almost bi-lingual by the end of the book, well not quite bi-lingual, but you at least know a few new words and customs.

I highly recommend this book if you love a great mystery! I am very excited to read the second one in the series entitled “The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing.”

NOOOO! It Is Too Soon For That!

2010-11-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

I love any holiday and I especially love to decorate for holidays. I do have one complaint for those of you out there that try to “overlap” holidays.

The one holiday that gets overlooked or overlapped on the most is Thanksgiving. Now I know that many don’t really think too much about the celebration of Thanksgiving, but it still deserves not to have Christmas started before it is over.

This is a real pet peeve of mine. I HATE seeing Christmas lights before Thanksgiving is over. I don’t mean in the stores. I love the decorations up in the Malls and stores, but I mean on homes!

I feel that whenever I see Christmas lights on before Thanksgiving, someone must be having an “Auntie Mame” moment. You know what I mean right?

In the movie “Auntie Mame” staring Rosalind Russell, things are going so bad for Mame Dennis that she decides to pull out the Christmas decorations in July, put them up and celebrate, to try to cheer herself up.

CAUTION!!!

You want to watch the 1958 version with Rosalind Russell, NOT the 1974 version with Lucille Ball.

It is much better, even though I LOVE Lucille Ball. Watch her in “Yours, Mine and Ours” instead. It so funny and it is a classic!

Anyway….getting back to Christmas lights.

There is a song in the show called “We Need a Little Christmas” that is now a famous Christmas song. Long story short, that is what I mean by having an “Auntie Mame” moment when I see Christmas lights on before Thanksgiving is over. When I do see them on, I wonder if something is wrong and you turned them on just to cheer yourself up. Maybe that is a little crazy for me to assume this but… Even if you don’t really think Thanksgiving is a “big” holiday, I just don’t think you should start Christmas too early or you will burn out of the Spirit of the Season before it ever gets here.

I would really like to hear if I am the only one that feels this way!

A Really Amazing Movie-"Like Stars on Earth" (Taare Zameen Par)

2010-10-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

You have got to find this one!!!!

You won’t have to have had the experience of having a child with a learning disability to love this movie. But, if you have a child that has struggled with learning, whether it be just that it is just harder for them or if there is a real learning disability you need to watch this movie. The movie is entitled “Like Stars on Earth” (Taare Zameen Par) and it was released in 2007 in India. Now don’t let that put you off!!!! Not only are there sub-titles, but there is a really well done English dub if you don’t want to read the sub-titles.

The story is about an adorable boy named Ishaan who at 8 years old loves to explore the wonders of the world around him. He is played phenomenally by Darsheel Safary. He loves to draw and paint and is extremely good at it. He has a loving family, especially his older brother. However, he is failing in school. He has already failed the 3rd level and is about to fail it again. The teachers have no patience for him and his misbehaving. His father finally decides that what is needed is for Ishaan to go to a boarding school for more discipline. He is completely devastated, both emotionally and physiologically at having been abandoned, at least in his mind, by his family.

His mother is completely gutted buy this separation also, but doesn’t really have much say in the matter unfortunately. Ishaan is completely unresponsive to anything at this new school as he is too emotionally dead.

Tanay Chheda

He does make a new friend, Rajan, played by Tanay Chheda, who you may recognize from “My Name is Khan”, and “Slumdog Millionaire”. He is really good in this also.

Luckily, the fill-in teacher, Mr. Ram Shankar Nikumbh, (played by the amazing Aamir Khan), recognizes in Ishaan, the same traits that he had as a child and realizes that Ishaan suffers from dyslexia.

Aamir Khan-amazing!

Now with the proper diagnosis he is able to get through to Ishaan and help him learn.

It is rare that there are so many stand-out performances in a movie. Aamir Khan, who also directed this movie, is the best Indian actor, or, I feel one of the best actors anywhere.

Yet he is not too big to let the child actor in this movie shine. Darsheel Safary is truly amazing.

I am excited to see another movie with him in. He was so sweet and innocent in this. Darsheel is a great actor and Khan is a really great director of children, because you really felt the feelings of despair, frustration, depression, and also pure joy and happiness that Ishaan experienced throughout this movie.

The first hour was hard and frustrating emotionally for me but to see Ishaan blossom in the end is worth the tears shed in the first half. OK there were also tears in the second half but they were happy tears.

PLEASE find this movie and watch it!!!! I got it on Netflix and loved it so much I did buy it. So you can borrow it from me if you are here in Mesa. It is truly beautiful and you will want to see more of Aamir Khan’s films. Here are a few of my favorites of his:
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time In India-The BEST!!!!
Dil Chahta Hai-really good!
Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (Modern Indian Romeo and Juliet)
Fanaa
Ghajini (a bit too violent but a good movie)

Oxford...CS Lewis...Need I say More????

2010-10-11T22:56:00.000-07:00

While on a recent trip to England, I was in Oxford to take a class. Kim, my friend, and I have attended the Oxford Experience three times and each time it has been WONDERFUL!!! We stay at Christ Church College in the dorms for a week, take a class and basically have free access to the school while there. Kim has blogged about it and you can check out the program in detail here http://arizonatraveler.blogspot.com/.

What I wanted to post about was a particular thing I did on my own while there that week. The last time we attended, I found in one of the bookshops a self-guided tour of CS Lewis’ Oxford. It included a map and information about each important site in the city of Oxford to CS Lewis. I decided that the next time I was there I would wake up one morning and hit the pavement, before all the tourists got there and see Oxford through Lewis’ eyes.

So as planned, Friday morning, the day before we left, I got up at 5:00 and got ready so that as soon as it was light enough I started my tour. Later when I told my kids about this, they thought I was crazy to be out at 5:45 by myself but I felt completely safe. I wanted to share it with you.

Blackwells Bookshop

The White Horse Pub

The Kings Arms

I started up on Broad Street in front of the famous Blackwell’s Bookshop. Just to the left of Blackwell’s, is a small Pub called The White Horse. This pub, along with The Kings Arms, which is just a very short distance from it, is where, during the war (WWII), the Inklings (a literary club that Lewis belonged to) would meet when they couldn’t get beer from their usual haunt, The Eagle and Child pub. There were so many service men in Oxford that pubs would run out of beer so the group would go to wherever they could find a drink while having their literary discussions. I will talk about the Inklings more later in this post.

Turf Tavern at the end of Bath Place

Holywell Street

Continuing on down Holywell Street, I came to a small side street called Bath Place. Here is another pub that was used in a beer shortage emergency called The Turf Tavern. Staying on Holywell, you come to the corner of Mansfield Road.

Lewis' first home in Oxford

Here on the right hand corner of Holywell and Mansfield is the first home that Lewis lived in when he first came to Oxford to study as a young man. He had this to say of his first experience in Oxford in December of 1916:

"My first taste of Oxford was comical enough. I had made no arrangements about quarters and, having no more luggage than I could carry in my hand, I sallied out of the railway station on foot to find either a lodging-house or a cheap hotel; all agog for "dreaming spires" and "last enchantments." My first disappointment at what I saw could be dealt with. Towns always show their worst face to the railway. But as I walked on and on I became more bewildered. Could this succession of mean shops really be Oxford? But I still went on, always expecting the next turn to reveal the beauties, and reflecting that it was a much larger town than I had been led to suppose.

Only when it became obvious that there was very little town left ahead of me, that I was in fact getting to open country, did I turn round and look. There behind me, far away, never more beautiful since, was the fabled cluster of spires and towers. I had come out of the station on the wrong side and been all this time walking into what was even then the mean and sprawling suburb of Botley. I did not see to what extent this little adventure was an allegory of my whole life. I merely walked back to the station, somewhat footsore, took a hansom, and asked to be driven to "some place where I can get rooms for a week, please." (From “Surprised By Joy”)

A short walk up Mansfield Road, I turned right on Jowett Walk and at the end of that street and to the left I came to St Cross Cemetery and Church. Some of Lewis’ close friends are buried here.

St Cross Church and Cemetery

St Cross Church is also famous as the site of Harriet Vain and Lord Peter Wimsey’s marriage in the great mystery series written by Dorothy L Sayers. Great Mysteries!!!

Going back past Jowett Street, and continuing a short distance the road narrows and I came to Longwall Street. This long wall, after which the street is named, is a large section of the original city wall of Oxford. Behind that wall is Magdalen (pronounced Maudlin) College.

Plaque I found while on my trek

Longwall Street-original city wall

River Cherwell

As I followed Longwall Street to the end I entered High Street, which is the main street in the City. I turned left and walked past Magdalen College and went to the bridge that spans the River Cherwell that is called Magdalen Bridge.

Magdalen Tower

The as I turned back around from where I came, I could see one of the most beautiful views of Oxford, including Magdalen Tower that was built between 1490 and 1510. It stands more than 150 feet high. If you have seen the great movie, “Shadowlands”, with Anthony Hopkins, it is where the May Morning festival is held on May 1st that is depicted in the movie. I didn’t go into Magdalen College that morning but went back later in the day when it was opened. It is an amazingly beautiful College. Here are a few pictures of it.

Magdalen College

The Cloisters inside the Grounds

A favorite walk of Lewis' called Addisons path

The building where his offices were

Deer Park in the College Grounds

The 2 center windows are the windows of his office. It is in this office that he had a re-awakening of his Christian faith.

Now heading back up into the city on High Street, I passed several other important sites in CS Lewis’ life here.

Eastgate Hotel

Examination Rooms

They are Eastgate Hotel, another meeting place of the Inklings, the Examinations rooms, where he along with other students go for their examines, and then you come to University College, which is the College Lewis attended as a young man.

View up High Street

University College

I then took a slight backtrack and detour from High Street down Queens Lane and passed several other Colleges’, New College, Queens College, and All Souls College, and the church where Lewis often attended, St. Peters-in-the-East.

St. Peters-in-the-East.

I then came to one of the most famous sites in Oxford. On both sides of the street is Hertford College, and a bridge connects the two buildings. It is known as “the Bridge of Sighs”.

The Bridge of Sighs

Bodliena Library

Radcliff Camera

University Church of St Mary the Virgin

As I walked under the bridge I came out into the most amazing view of Oxford. In front of me was the Radcliff Camera, the Bodleian Library, the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, where you can climb to the top of the tower for a wonderful view of the city. It is here that Lewis delivered his famous war-time speech “The Weight of Glory”.

One more watering hole for the Inklings gang

I went from here back out to High Street passing Brasenose College, and the Mitre Hotel, another favorite spot of Lewis, JRR Tolkien and friends, and continued up the street towards Carfax (from the French word “carrefour” meaning “crossroads”) and turned right into Cornmarket Street.

Oldest Building in Oxford on Cornmarket Street

St Mary Magdalen's Church

I passed St Mary Magdalen’s Church which Lewis frequented, and I passed the Martyrs’ Memorial built in remembrance of the martyrs, Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley who were burned at the stake for their religious beliefs.

Actual site of the martyr on Broad Street

Martyr's Memorial

Randolph House Hotel-Best High Tea in the City!!!!

The Eagle and Child or more affectionately called "The Bird and the Baby" by the members of the Inklings

I passed the Randolph Hotel where Kim and I had a fantastic High Tea. I really recommend you try this but you need reservations. It was so much fun and the food was scrumptious! It is located directly across the street from the world famous Ashmolean Museum. I continued a short distance and I came to the most famous “Lewis” pub, The Eagle and Child, which was the main gathering spot for the famous literary group, The Inklings.

Currently, the Quaker Meeting House, where Lewis and Joy were married the first time

Just a little further on up the same street I came to the place where Lewis and Joy Gresham were married. It is now a Quaker Meeting House but was at the time of their marriage the Registry Office.

This brought me to the end of my tour, (other than the later excursion into Magdalen College). As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Kim and I went to his home, The Kilns, a few days previous to this (see blog post of Sept. 17th ).

The Kilns, Lewis' home in Headington and Holy Trinity where he worshiped and is buried

I love the works of CS Lewis. I love his Christian insights, his knowledge of human behavior, and his writing skills that have entertained me countless times. Here is a man who, after his realization that what he had been advocating for many years of his life, i.e., that there was no God, then coming to know of God’s presence and love for him as a man, spent the rest of his life teaching the principles of Christ’s Gospel. Just as the Apostle Paul in the New Testament, once he gained a testimony of the Gospel, he gave the rest of his life in the service of God and teaching others of this belief.

This was a very meaningful and personal experience for me to do this tour of Oxford. It was the perfect ending of the perfect week in Oxford.

Akbar The Great-Another Great Leader from History

2010-09-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar (1543-1605)

I know it has been too long since I posted but things are a bit busy here. I have started what I call a new hobby, but my some consider it a business (see link in side bar for more info on “Charmed by Shakespeare”) that has taken up all my spare time lately but that is now running smoothly but slowly. I will consider it a business when we break even with the investments into it. ANYWAY…. Enough excuses.

One of my first charms-Henry VI

Our next Great Leader in History is about the Mughal Emperor Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar (1543-1605), who reigned in the regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Northern India. He came to the throne at the young age of 13 after the sudden death of his father, Humayan due to a fall.

The court of young Akbar, age 13, showing his first imperial act: the arrest of an unruly courtier, who was once a favorite of Akbar's father. Illustration from a manuscript of the Akbarnama

He was the third Emperor of the Mughal Empire and the first to truly be an Indian as he was born in a Rajput fort in what is now part of Pakistan. He was under the tutelage of the Regent, Ayram Khan during those early years and thanks to Khan, the empire was protected from 1556-1560. Shortly after the death of his father he faced his first challenge to his throne from a man named Hemu. Hemu was able to drive the Mughals out of Delhi. Hemu was defeated in a second battle at Panipat where he was hit in the eye with an arrow, piercing into his head while riding his elephant. His soldiers ran in confusion after seeing their leader hit. Hemu was captured and beheaded in front of the young Akbar. After this victory, Delhi stayed in the control of the Mughals for another three centuries.

Barely out of his teens Akbar began to quickly consolidate his kingdom and to centralize the administration of the Empire. Although a Muslim by birth he took a keen interest in all the faiths that his subjects practiced and never allowed persecutions based on faith. He never discriminated between the Hindus or Muslims.

His first wife (he had 33 wives), and some say his most beloved wife, was a Hindu princess by the name of Hira Kunwar (some call her Jodhabai), was the daughter of Bharmal Raja of Amber. They were married in February of 1562 in Sambhar and their son was the next Mughal emperor Jahangir. Some of the details of this marriage are still disputed today but it did create an alliance that caused a major shift in the balance of power within the Indian subcontinent. It also began a period of peace between the Mughals and the Rajputs.

Akbar had to deal with the usual intrigue in his court but you can read about that elsewhere. I wanted to go on and tell you of the things he accomplished during his reign.

Religion

As I already mentioned, he was interested in the religions of all of his subjects and tried to learn about them. He was taught about Jain, and Sikh followers and in his mind, he eventually formed an amalgam of the various religions like, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism. He even at one time had Portuguese fathers visit his court and teach him about Christianity. He tried to form a new religion based on the best in all these religions but it never gained popularity.

Politics

Akbar was able to centralize his government and unlike his predecessors did not exact a large tribute of the territories he conquered. Instead of forcing the rulers of the defeated territories to step down, he integrated them into the administration of that region and provided for them to become military leaders.

He abolished all the taxes that were levied on all non-Muslims. These taxes had been in place since the Muslims gained power.

Education

Although some historians believe Akbar suffered from learning disabilities, he was a leader that loved to learn. He collected thousands of beautifully written manuscripts during his lifetime. He also surrounded himself with writers, scholars, translators, painters and musicians.

Some call this period the Persian Renaissance of literature. He also was a great patron of the arts, architecture. Many magnificent buildings and palaces were built under his reign, many of which are still standing.

Summary

As a contemporary of Queen Elizabeth I of England, he ruled over 140 million subject compared to her 5 million.

Akbar the Great's Tomb

Like Alfred the Great of England that I posted about a few weeks ago, Akbar the Great was great because of his great leadership of his people, not because of his strength in defeating so many territories.

He was indeed a great leader for his time, and I feel many leaders today would benefit by following his example as a leader.

Additional Information:

There is a FANTASTIC movie based on the life of Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar entitled “Jodhaa Akbar”. It is beautiful! Check it out! The music in the background is from the movie.

Also, PBS had a great series on the history of India and they talked about Akbar quite a bit. You can find the entire series through Netflix but here is a small piece of that footage about Akbar: http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/timeline/5/ (click on the timeline that mentions Akbar the Great for the video to start).

The Perfect Literary Storm

2010-09-14T16:48:00.000-07:00

During a recent trip I experienced what some would call “a perfect literary storm”. Each time I have visited England, I have tried to visit sites that played an important part to a favorite historical figure of mine. Last month though, I was in Oxford England to take a class and during that week I was able to visit the home and grave site of my 3 favorite literary heroes.

CS Lewis

On Monday, after class, Kim and I caught the bus on high street (okay it was the wrong bus but we eventually got on the correct one), and went a few miles to Headington to visit the home of CS Lewis.

"The Kiln's" where Lewis lived for the last 30+ years of his life

It is still a private home so we weren’t able to go inside but next to the home was a nature preserve that Lewis bought as a tribute to a friend. It was where he and JRR Tolkien got a lot of inspiration for there make believe worlds.

Holy Trinity Church in Headington

We then walked about a ½ a mile to the church where he attended for about 30 + years. They even had his regular pew marked so we could sit in it.

Me, sitting in his pew where he sat for many years.

There was a window near his seat with representations of some of the Narnia characters, SOOOO COOL!

The Narnia window in Holy Trinity

Then we walked out to the cemetery and found his grave site. CS Lewis’ writing has been such an inspiration to me.

Lewis and his brothers grave

Next to the Scriptures (Holy Bible, and the Book of Mormon), and my Church Leaders, his writings have has the most impact on my spirituality.

William Shakespeare

On Wednesday, one of the extra excursions went up to Stratford-Upon-Avon to see a performance of “The Winter’s Tale” performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. I was so excited because this is my favorite play!

At Shakespeare's grave in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-Upon-Avon

The curse that marks his grave

We left shortly after lunch and it is less than an hour from Oxford so we had time to go to Holy Trinity Church and visit Shakespeare’s grave site and memorial. We also went to the home of his daughter, Elizabeth, who was married to John Hall, the Doctor in the town.

Home of Shakespeare's daughter, Elizabeth and her husband Dr. John Hall

Then we went to the site of where his last home was called “New Place”. He had it built and then after his retirement , lived here until his death.

Garden and excavation site at New Place

The home is no longer standing, due to a stupid man who got tired of people coming to see “where Shakespeare” lived so he had it demolished!!! Incredible! They are now doing an archaeological dig at the site. It was interesting to see some of the things they had found already. In addition to this, the play was AMAZING!!! And one of the actors, Sam Troughton, which was in the BBC series of “Robin Hood”, was in it and he was nice enough to autograph my program.

Sam Troughton who portrayed "Much" in the BBC's "Robin Hood"

Then on Thursday, our class went on an excursion to Winchester. I have posted about why in my “King Alfred” blog on the 23rd of August but Jane Austen is also buried in Winchester Cathedral. We had to convince our Tutor to let us take a few pictures at her grave site and memorial, (he is not interested in Jane Austen if you can believe that!).

Jane's grave and memorial in Winchester Cathedral

Then after we left the Cathedral grounds and were following the medieval wall around to where we were to catch the bus, we passed the home she had been visiting at the time of her death. Dr. Beard was patient again with us that wanted a few pictures of us in front of the home.

The home that Jane died in

Although Lewis Carroll is not one of my favorite authors, I still enjoy "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", so I took a tour of Christ Church College, where we stayed for the week and learned about all the Alice spots at the college and where Carroll got some of his influences for the stories. Very interesting!

The tree in the Dean's Garden that was the inspiration for the Jabberwocky

The door that Alice Liddell would go through to play in the garden. Also, the tree in the top right corner is the tree that Alice's cat would always climb into so she couldn't get her. The set of 2 windows in the building behind the wall are the windows of Carroll's office and where he would watch the Liddell children play in the garden.

The Door in the corner of the Great Hall where the students ate (same hall that is in the Harry Potter films). This is where Alice Liddell's father, who was the Dean of Christ Church College, would rush through at meal times exclaiming that "he was late" again. The students were not allowed to eat until he got there.

Window's in the Great Hall, first is Lewis Carroll (the dodo bird is him in the books) then the Alice window with Alice Liddell in the center. Below are other windows with some more characters from the books.

Then to make the end of the perfect week at Oxford, on Friday morning, I woke up at 5 am and was out on the road at 5:45. I had found two different walking tours entitled “CS Lewis’ Oxford”. I combined the 2 to have a complete tour of every site that was important to him while he lived, went to school, and taught here throughout his life (except his home which we saw on Monday). I will blog about that later since there was quite a bit to see. But it was a great 2 hours!

It really was an amazing week!

Another Dickens??? YES!!!

2010-09-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

I recently read a book entitled “Mariana” by an author I had not heard of before named Monica Dickens.

"Mariana" by Monica Dickens

Monica Dickens

It was written when she was 24 years old and originally published in 1940. She is the great granddaughter of Charles Dickens.

Charles Dickens would be proud of his great granddaughter

She had several books published during her lifetime but she has kind of been forgotten about. My friend Kim found a book store in London that republishes books written by women of the past century. They are the ones that republished “Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day”.

It is called Persephone Books (like the Greek goddess). Kim was going to visit it one day that we were in London, so I asked her to pick me up a book that had a happy ending, and this is the one that was recommended to her by the store employee.

Persephone Books-London

“Mariana” is about a young woman, Mary Shannon, who lived in London during WWII, and while staying at a cottage in the country for a holiday, she hears about the sinking of her husband’s ship while listening to the wireless (radio). It was reported that there had been some survivors. The phone lines at the cottage are dead due to a storm that is going on and she can’t get into the village to send a telegraph to London to see if a telegram had been delivered to her flat. She is stranded all night to think the worst until morning. In order to make it through the night, she reviews her life in her mind, going back to when she was a girl and growing up with a single mother, who had been widowed during WWI.

Monica Dickens has a real gift for storytelling. I think it would have been hard being compared to her Great Grandfather. Charles Dickens had the ability to create characters so well that you could almost smell them! I love his books, but Monica Dickens can stand on her own as an author. She also has a talent for describing people and situations but in a different way. Maybe it is because of the different time period, but you admired her mother for all she was able to accomplish, and you cried for when Mary, the heroine, experienced romantic heartbreaks. This book has humor, and romance, and just a fun story.

WARNING!!! Spoiler Alert!!!! My only complaint is that more time was spent on the romances that didn’t work out than the one where she met and married her husband. I wanted their courtship to last a little longer because it was so sweet. Now I did read the end first, which is usual for me, but it was still suspenseful to find out if her husband was one of the survivors or not.

I really enjoyed her book and I look forward to reading more of her, but I think it will be hard to find more of her books because many of them are out of print. There are a few used ones on some book sites. Thank goodness Persephone’s does mail order!!! Here is the biography of Monica Dickens on the Persephone Books web-site:

Monica Dickens, born in 1915, was brought up in London. Her mother's German origins and her Catholicism gave her the detached eye of an outsider; at St Paul's Girls' School she was under-occupied and rebellious. After drama school she was a debutante before working as a cook. One Pair of Hands (1939), her first book, described life in the kitchens of Kensington. It was the first of a group of semi autobiographies of which Mariana (1940), technically a novel, was one. 'My aim is to entertain rather than instruct,' she wrote. 'I want readers to recognise life in my books.' In 1951 Monica Dickens married a US naval officer, Roy Stratton, moved to America and adopted two daughters. An extremely popular writer, she involved herself in, and wrote about, good causes such as the Samaritans. After her husband died she lived in a cottage in rural Berkshire, dying there in 1992.

Beautiful paper used and very beautiful books!

Here is a link to Persephone Bookstores website: http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/

Are the Older Women of the World too Rebellious???

2010-09-06T11:13:00.000-07:00

I recently visited another country with my friend Kim, and we noticed an interesting phenomenon. We observed that there were several women with a variety of bright, almost shocking hair color.

You wouldn’t think that was a big deal if you saw a young woman who may like to express themselves through their appearance but these weren’t young women.

Very Maroon!

Purple on the bangs only

I would say at least ninety percent of these women were at least over 45-50 years old.

Violet color just in the front

I called this color "eggplant"

Orange with Maroon streaks

This really had us stumped because throughout my whole life, it seemed it was the younger generations that showed defiance through how they dressed and the outrageous styles of their hair.

Deep Purple...This picture doesn't so it justice!

So I am asking, what is the appeal of having strange hair color?
With older women, it can’t be to rebel.
Could it be they feel the need to stand out more than others?

Not just crazy color but crazy style!

And the winner is...for the brightest one of all!!!!

This one is hard to see but she has purple highlights throughout the hair

Are they desperate for the attention? It can’t be a style reason because sometimes the hair color clashed with the clothing they were wearing so it just looked awful! I don’t know, we couldn’t understand the reason. Any thoughts?

Only One English King Has Had the Title of "The Great"!

2010-08-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

This is the first in my new series that I have entitled “Another Great Person From History”.

Statue of Alfred the Great as you enter Winchester

I love history, pretty much any kind but particularly English history. Probably because that is partly my history since the majority of my ancestors came from England. I recently took a week long class about Alfred(Ӕlfred is the Saxon spelling) the Great and I learned so much about this Man that I wanted to tell you about him briefly.

King Alfred

Alfred was born in Wantage England in 849. He was the 5th son of King Ӕthelwulf, King of the West Saxons. Ӕthelwulf’s kingdom basically included all of the southern part of England (on map this includes Kent, Sussex, Wessex, and Dumnonia (Cornwall).

Kingdoms at the time of Alfred's birth, before the Viking invasions began in earnest

Since he was the youngest of 5 sons, there was really no intention of him ever becoming King, so he focused on learning the art of warfare as a young man. However after the death of each brother, and the country facing the constant threat of Danish raids, he was picked to be the next King instead of the young sons of his brothers.

Because he was not intending to become a king, he felt that as a king:

“a king ruled not only over a land and its people but through them. They had been entrusted to him by God so that he might through them ‘virtuously and worthily administer the authority’ committed to him” (Alfred The Great by Richard Ables).

He was crowned King on April 23, 871, succeeding his brother Ӕthelred, after demonstrating his leadership qualities in his role as second in command to his brother. He was a religious man, he also believed in military power and led his troops against the Viking invaders three times. In 876 the Danish leader, Guthrum led an invasion into Wessex that forced Alfred and his troops to flee. During the next 2 years he gathered troops throughout his kingdom and in 878 he again faced and defeated his Danish invaders with a deciding victory at the Battle of Edington. As part of the peace treaty, Guthrum was to be baptized. In 886, Alfred negotiated a peace treaty with the Dane which divided the country geographically into 2 kingdoms, the “Danelaw” and the Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons.

Map of England after the Danelaw is established by King Alfred. His Kingdom included Wessex and Mercia.

Now that peace had, for the most part, been established, Alfred did not sit around but instead began to build the most progressive defensive system ever know to England. He began organizing his army and built a series of well-defined “forts” know as Burhs (pronounced “burr's”). He implemented this in 3 phases. Phase one, was by using already existing sites that had defensive walls in place. Most of these were former Roman forts or fortified towns. Our class visited one of these burhs that is still standing today in Portchester, England.

Inside the Roman Walls of Portchester that King Alfred used as one of the burhs.

Me, outside the burh at Portchester. The tower behind me was added during the Medieval period.

Phase two, was to strengthen existing defensive structures and add new walls around exsisting towns. This included the Roman town of Winchester, and phase three, was to build new burhs and towns. After these were built and fortified, his people were never more than one day away from protection if there was another invasion. He also divided his army into two parts so that the soldiers took turns being on duty.

Map of the locations of the larger burhs established by King Alfred for defense of the country

Like many great leaders throughout history, King Alfred was a strong believer in "Peace through strength".
Once the country's defenses were in place, King Alfred then focused on increasing the education and spirituality of his nobles. He had always felt that the Danish invasions were a result of the wickedness of his nobles, so he brought in religious men to teach the Gospel and to educate his people.

1st-Site of an Abbey that was built at the time of King Alfred. 2nd is the lower level of the Palace built by King Alfred but destroyed by Oliver Cromwell (yuck, gag) after the Civil war in 1651. Only the Great Hall (below) is left from the time of King Alfred.

As King, he also implemented a code of law that established justice and order, and reformed the coinage system. He had a biographer chronicle his life, and he also personally participated in the translation of books from Latin into Anglo-Saxon. He had the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles written, so we have quite a lot of information about the Anglo-Saxon period because of this.

Winchester Cathedral

(Medieval, the Anglo-Saxon Cathedral that Alfred had built was replaced by this larger Cathedral on the same location.)

He reigned until his death in October, 899 at the age of 50, and was buried in Winchester.

(***I hope I got all this history correct. My notes were a little sloppy so if I am wrong about anything, please leave a comment and let me know. Thanks!)

For Lasagna, Who Needs Electricity? All You Need is the Sun!

2010-08-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

I have told you about the great product called the Solar Hot Pot, and for those of you who live in places where there is an abundance of sun, like here is AZ, it will save a lot of money on your electric bills. I recently made a recipe called “Skillet Lasagna” that has been a family favorite for years, but instead of heating up the kitchen using the stove top, I thought I would try it in the Hot Pot on the pool deck and see if it would work.

In the morning I browned the Ground beef and onion (recipe is at the end of the post). Then I added half a jar (2 cups) of spaghetti sauce. Use your favorite brand, any one will work. I use sauce that I make and bottle here at home. After it is mixed in I put the meat mixture into the hot pot. Now this next step is different than the recipe but I then layered the cottage cheese, then the noodles (uncooked), and topped it with the Italian spices, the can of crushed tomatoes and the remainder of the spaghetti sauce.

I covered it and place it into the reflector that was set up on a table on our pool deck. Now I just had to watch it and rotate it to follow the sun about every 30-45 minutes. After 4 hours, I topped it with the shredded mozzarella cheese and let it cook for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

It turned out perfectly! The noodles were cooked to perfection and it tasted great.

If you don’t want to invest in a Solar hot pot, I have seen instruction online about how to make your own homemade version so try it out if you want to experiment before buying one. Although I promise, once you try it you will love it!

Here is the recipe for the Skillet Lasagna:

Skillet Lasagna
1 pound ground beef
¼ c. chopped onion
1 16oz can diced or crushed tomatoes
1 quart spaghetti sauce
1 ½ t Italian seasoning
12oz cottage cheese
2 c. uncooked egg noodles
16oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Brown beef and onion, then drain. Pour tomatoes and Italian seasoning over meat. Layer cottage cheese, noodles and spaghetti sauce over meat and tomatoes. Simmer, covered, for 20-25 minutes until noodles are soft. Last minutes, sprinkle cheese on until melted.

This is the site that I bought mine at: www.solarovens.net/

Mingling with the Stars in London

2010-08-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in my last post, I have recently been to England and Belgium and had THE perfect trip! One of the highlights was accidently coming upon a movie being shot in London. I was on my way to the Globe Theater, to talk with the Gift Shop manager about selling a line of Shakespeare related charms in their store, when, just coming off the Millenium Bridge (or as the Americans keep calling it, “the Harry Potter bridge”),

I saw a film crew setting up a scene for a picture the BBC is making. I love movies so I stopped to watch a little of the process.

I started looking around and I suddenly I saw an actor that I recognized as Hugh Bonneville,

one of my FAVORITE English actors.

He looked like he was going over lines while waiting for the scene to be ready,

so I asked one of the employees that was assigned to keep the public at bay, if she would take a business card I had and ask him for his autograph. I explained that I was visiting from Arizona and he was a favorite of mine. She said sure and took the card and pen back to him. They spoke for a minute and he looked in my direction and to my amazement, he started coming out to meet me.

He was so nice! I introduced myself and told him I really enjoyed his work and he asked if I was visiting or what, so I was able to explain about our trip to Oxford and about my line of Shakespeare charms that I was trying to sell. I asked about the movie they were working on which is entitled “London 2012” and he explained to me a little about what it is about. We joked that I wouldn’t get to see it for about 2 years after it is released because that is about how long it takes for English movies to make it to America. He was even nice enough to have his picture taken with me also.

Although I had many amazing experiences on this trip, and yes, you will be hearing about many of them in the coming weeks here, I would have to say that this was in the top 5 of the exciting things that happened on this trip.

Hugh Bonneville is not only a really good actor he is a really nice man and now he is officially my favorite English actor (See updated favorites list in the side bar!). Sorry, Rupert, Richard, Colin, James, and Ben. (Hugh Jackman doesn’t count since he is Australian).

Some of my favorite Hugh Bonneville movies are:

Notting Hill

Mansfield Park (1999)

Miss Austen Regrets

Lost in Austen

and Daniel Deronda

…plus many others. Check him out!!!

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane....

2010-07-21T18:11:00.000-07:00

Just a heads up, I am leaving for 2 1/2 weeks so I won't be posting anything until I get home. Hopefully, I will be able to post something along the way but I never know.

I'll catch you up after August 9th. Don't miss me too much!!!! My friend Kim and I are going to be attending classes at Oxford University and also visiting Belgium. So excited!!! Later!

Here I come!!!!

Don't You Just Love Great Mystery???

2010-07-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

Maisie Dobbs is a private investigator in post WWI London. In the seventh book of the Maisie Dobbs series entitled “The Mapping of Love and Death”, the author Jacqueline Winspear, I feel, recaptured some of the spark that seemed to be lost in the 2 previous books of the series. Although books 5 and 6 were good to read, I just didn’t like them as much as the first four.

This book opens with a prologue chapter that starts in 1914, when Michael Clifton learns of the war in Europe starting while he had been in California surveying some property he had just purchased. He immediately sets off for England instead of returning home to Boston and his family, to fight in the war. He felt an allegiance due to the fact that his father had emigrated from England as a young man.

Chapter one jumps us to present day, which is April 1932. Maisie, who has now been in business for herself for a few years, and her associate, Billy, are keeping busy with various cases. She has just received a letter from a doctor she had met and worked with as a nurse during the War several years previously. Dr. Hayden is informing her that he had referred an elderly couple he knew from Boston to look her up in order to investigate the death of their son Michael Clifton, who they had believed had been killed during the war, but now further evidence had surfaced that suggests he may have been murdered instead. Maisie has the tough job of trying to solve a 17 year old murder mystery without too much evidence, but being the Amazing sleuth that she is, she does get to the answer and also finds other answers to other problems along the way. One warning, there is a sad goodbye to a main character in this one that has been in all of the books, but it is ok.

Jacqueline Winspear

Winspear does a good job with the mystery but I especially like these books because there is the great side story of Maisie’s personal life and all that is going on in it. It is like reading 2 books at once. This is not a “who-done-it” type of mystery; you aren’t fed clues throughout the book to try to figure it out on your own. Instead the author keeps some clues very vague until she tidily wraps it up at the end. The characters that are in her daily life sometimes help in moving the mystery along but, if they aren’t involved in the mystery, they are fun to get to know on their own or just to see what is happening in their lives during this book.

You also get to learn a little more about WWI which tends to be a side theme in all of these books up to this point and will probably continue until 1939 when England is pulled into WWII. One other side note, there is a very promising romance in this one. Maisie has “teased” us a few times but I think this one is a keeper, hopefully!

If you haven’t read any of the Maisie Dobbs mysteries, I suggest you start with the first one which is entitled “Maisie Dobbs”, and work your way up to this, the 7th book of the series. I have enjoyed all of them.

Don’t be caught in a natural disaster without a few of these filled up!!!

2010-07-16T20:44:00.000-07:00

On all of the emergency preparedness sites, one of the main things that is suggested that you have on hand is a small amount of cash, 5-7 days worth. Not only do you need the cash but you need it in small denominations.

Let me explain why.

During any natural disaster, the first thing to go is electricity. Now, if you don’t have electricity, you can’t get money at the bank or any ATM’s, or you can’t purchase anything from stores without the exact cash on hand. This means, if you need water food or batteries, you could be paying more than it is worth if you don’t have the right amount of cash. I saw this in England 3 years ago while visiting. There was a terrible flood when the Thames over flowed and many villages were completely cut off. The stores had to start rationing water, so you were only able to get 2-3 flats. Since there was no electricity, many flood victims had to pay 20 pounds, for 2-3 flats of water which would normally have only cost around 10-12 pounds. And that is assuming the smallest bill you had was a 20. The same thing happened during Katrina and numerous Earthquakes.

Therefore, it is recommended that you keep 1’s, 5’s, and 10’s in a stash at your home. So the question arises, where is a safe place to keep 5-7 days of cash at home? Here is one answer. They are called Diversion Safes. You just unscrew them and put the small bills inside, close them and put them on the appropriate shelf. There are many different products that you can choose from to hide you cash stash in. Here are a few choices:

I have even seen cans of vegetables, soups, fruits, just about anything you could find in a grocery store. Just “google” diversion safes, and find the best price, or here are a few sites that I have found:

www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dtools&field-keywords=diversion+safes

http://selfdefenseproshop.com/products.php?cat=54

www.personalsafetyshop.com/WBCATE?PMCTNO=0000000026&PMVMOD=R

www.einvestigator.com/spy_equipment/hidden_diversion_safes.htm

Keep a few in different places in your home and most important, remember where and what they are. We had a visitor once who tried to open an A&W root beer but it wouldn’t open and he couldn’t figure out how or why. He eventually realized what it was but he was disappointed at not being able to have a root beer. It was funny!

If you don’t want to purchase a diversion safe, find a safe place to keep you store of cash. It is so important!!

All's Well That Ends Well....

2010-07-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

***Before reading this post, please refer to the previous post (July 11th) and remember to vote for the LEMON TARTS!!!!

After Eileen and I loaded the gazebo into my truck, I finally got on the road to head home after a fabulous time at the Shakespeare Festival. As I have stated many times before, I love this drive! I think Southern Utah/Northern AZ have the most beautiful scenery almost anywhere!

I was a good girl and didn’t buy any cookies at Jacob’s Lake Inn (only because I still had some from when I bought some coming up to Cedar!), but I HIGHLY recommend them. They are seriously the best cookies on the earth!!!!

Then I got to my favorite part of the trip and that is the Vermillion Cliffs. I know I post pictures of this every time I go past them but here are some again. They look different all the time, depending on the weather, time of day and the lighting. They are breathtakingly beautiful! Enjoy!

Navajo Bridge that spans the Colorado River below

So that ends my “play by play” of our trip to the Utah Shakespeare Festival of 2010. I already can’t wait for next year! The plays they are doing next year are:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Richard III

Romeo and Juliet

Music Man

The Glass Menagerie

Noises Off!

I know I will be seeing at least 5 of the 6 plays next summer. Check out their web-site at: www.bard.org/index.html

Can You Go Wrong with Jane Austen and Shakespeare on the Same Day? Play #4

2010-07-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a bit of a "relax" day for Eileen and I. We didn't have any sight-seeing planned so we had a late morning breakfast at IHop (what is a trip without at least once having breakfast at IHop?), came back to the Hotel at read by the pool for a while before it was time to go to our last play which was in the afternoon.

Yes, this is me with my Jane Austen action figure! Is that cool or what????

….I interrupt this post with an emergency request. PLEASE contact the Festival here and let them know not to get rid of the LEMON TARTS for next year!!! They were taking a survey when we went to our play today to see which flavor should be dropped for next year. The lemon tarts are our favorites, and trust me, they are the best. So even if you don’t plan on EVER coming to the Utah Shakespeare Festival, please email them at: www.bard.org/about/contact.html

PLEASE HELP US SAVE THE LEMONE TARTS!! Vote to get rid of the cream cheese tarts, YUCK!!!

Now back to our review…

Yesterday was also our last play and we thought we would save the best for last. The play was “Pride and Prejudice”, by Jane Austen. Last year when we found out that this particular play was going to be done we thought, “What could be more perfect, Jane Austen and Shakespeare altogether?” So we were very excited to see this play! So maybe that was part of the problem.

Us, with my Jane Austen action figure awaiting the play!

Let me begin by saying that we did enjoy this play but not as much as we expected. It IS worth seeing. The set was really beautiful and worked well with the show. Costumes were great, and all the actors gave really good performances. There were 2 standout performances. The best was Mrs. Bennet played by Ellen Crawford. Mrs. Bennet really has the best lines and is the most comical character in this play and in the book of “Pride and Prejudice”. Therefore it is EXTREMELY important to have a believable Mrs. Bennet and Crawford played her superbly! Even if it was just a facial expression, she had the audience laughing.

Brian Vaughn as Hamlet

The second best performance was, of course, Brian Vaughn as Mr. Collins. He played him perfectly. He had the awkward “holier than thou” attitude down to a tee! His social ineptitude also made you laugh at him while also being embarrassed for him for being so clueless! Vaughn also included enough annoying quirks as Mr. Collins that made him quite comical. He was fun to watch. Mr. Bennet (Jeff Steitzer) was also good and the 2 younger daughters, Kitty and Lydia were very silly which was fun and expected. The rest of the cast did very well and the story moved along quite nicely.

There were just a couple of things we did not like. Now I realize that this may have been because we both REALLY love this book, but we felt that Elizabeth was not portrayed in this play as the fun-loving, intellectually active character as she is in the book. Her sparing with Darcy seemed more like she was looking for a fight, instead of teasing him to point out his follies.

The other things were didn’t like was more a script problem than a performance problem. When Darcy first proposed to Elizabeth Bennet, the most famous line of this scene (at least in mine and Eileen’s opinion) was left out. We kept waiting for Lizzie to say,

``You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose that the mode of your declaration affected me in any other way, than as it spared me the concern which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentleman-like manner.''

That line is almost as important and well-known as the opening lines of…”It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” This line WAS in the play.

The second problem we had with the script was near the end when Mr. Bennet was questioning Lizzie about accepting Mr. Darcy’s proposal. Elizabeth told her father how they were indebted to Mr. Darcy for “saving” Lydia’s, and therefore, the families reputation. You really felt that this was the main reason she wanted to marry Mr. Darcy, and not because she loved him dearly. But like I said, those two problems were script problems, but we felt that anyone that really “knew” Austen’s “P&P” would have changed these two oversights.

Mixed review???

So our review is YES, go see this play but be prepared if you know the book too well.

This was our last play but we ended the day with a great Western BBQ dinner at a new restaurant in town that was located in renovated train station called "Old West Smokehouse". YUMMY! Then we went back to the festival to buy our last tarts from our favorite tart guy, Stephen, and back to the Hotel to watch BBC’s “North and South”. YES!!!!!

Shakespeare and Austen figures, tart and North and South...can life get any better?

All four glorious hours of it! AWWWW, Richard Armitage!

cutie-patootie Richard Armitage

The perfect end to a fun day!!!

Tomorrow, the trip home and some pictures of the Vermillion Cliffs! THE most beautiful place in the West!

"With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come"- Play #3-The Merchant of Venice

2010-07-10T08:39:00.000-07:00

How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world. (The Merchant of Venice, 5. 1)

Have you ever noticed that if you are on a vacation and you don’t have an exact itinerary, you tend to start later each day? Thus it was yesterday and we and we didn’t really get started with the fun until the middle of the day. We did some window shopping…ok, yes did some buying also, in Cedar City then went to the crystal Inn and had High Tea. YUM!!!

I found a new favorite flavor…Spiced Chai. Can’t you just smell and taste the deliciousness of it just by the name??? It was tasty! Then we accidentally happened upon a fair in the city park. There was an interesting assortment of people at the fair...no, they were just weird! We didn’t stay too long.

We really wanted to get up to Cedar Breaks National Park. It is just up the canyon from Cedar City about 15 minutes away. It is absolutely breathtaking! I know I said this about Kolob Canyon but there is no other way to describe it. Here are a few pictures from various outlooks along the road:

There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray, love, remember, and there is pansies, that’s for thoughts…There’s fennel for you, and Columbines…(Hamlet4.5)

Eileen conversing with Billy Boy

Meanwhile, back at the Festival......

Tart boy...we kind of follow him around buying the amazing tarts!

Me visiting with David Ivers and Fred Adams before the show.

We were highly anticipating seeing The Merchant of Venice.

It is one of the best plays. I know I say that a lot about Shakespeare but this one is a gem! Here are a few of the best quotes from this play:
Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time. (1.1)
I do know of these
That therefore only are reputed wise
For saying nothing. (1.1)
They are as sick that surfeit with too much, as they that starve with nothing.(1.2)
The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. (3.1)
It is a wise father that knows his own child. (2.2)
But love is blind, and lovers cannot see
The pretty follies that themselves commit. (2.6)
He is well paid that is well satisfied. (4.1)

I know you have heard of many of these, not knowing they were lines from Shakespeare. Those are just a few of the “shorter” gems in this play. Now for the review that I am sure you are all so eager to hear!

“Merchant” is probably one of the more controversial plays that Shakespeare penned because of one character and that character is Shylock, the Jew. I have blogged about my views of this play last year when I saw Southwest Shakespeare Co. perform it in Mesa. I still feel sorry for Shylock and the way the Jews were/are treated, so I won’t go into that commentary again (if you want to read it you can look in my post archives, April 2009).

This play was phenomenal! I think the two most important roles that you really need to have cast right are Shylock and Portia. This particular play was cast perfectly in these two parts. The part of Shylock was played magnificently by Tony Amendola.

He was so believable in the role as the shrewd businessman, the caring father, and as I stated, he was sick of being treated unfairly in Venice. I don’t condone revenge but sometimes you get pushed to that point where you don’t really think rationally and I think after being abused, losing his daughter, and being robbed by her, I think he was a broken man, and lashing out at the only thing he could and that was Antonio. That is why he was so unforgiving and would not back down on wanting his “pound of flesh” to pay back his bond!

Portia was played by Emily Trask. She has been in several shows at this Festival in the past and she was luminescent in this! She was perfect. You felt for her in the predicament that she didn’t have a choice in who she would get to marry. Instead she was bound by her dead father’s plan that her suitors must choose one chest out of three and whoever chose the correct one would win her hand. She had many humorous suitors and that is part of the fun of this play. But her best lines come at the trial of Antonio when she is masquerading as a “learned doctor” and dispensing justice. Also the scenes with Bassanio (Grant Goodman) are very sweet and romantic.

I could keep going on and on about how wonderful this production is but I will leave it by saying, this is another one you just can’t miss! Three out of three perfect plays, what more can you ask for? I will leave you with this last quote from the play:
Portia to Shylock--
The quality of mercy is not strained,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's,
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.
The Merchant of Venice, 4. 1

Play 2-FANTASTIC! But I Would Come Just For The Tarts

2010-07-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

Now for the further adventures of Eileen, Billy boy and Me here on day 2 at the Festivaland the review of play #2.
Our play wasn’t until the evening so Eileen and I went to St. George for more “School supplies” (wink wink, remember the code words). While we were at one of the “supply” stores (Coldwter Creek), who would walk in but my son-in-law’s sweet mom, LaDawn, who was also visiting from Mesa. Here we’re almost 500 miles from Mesa and I see someone I know shopping! Freaky! Anyway, after that we grabbed a quick lunch at In-N-Out.

Then we went to a store that I have heard so much about but never been and it is called Tai Pan. WOW!!! I usually hate to shop but this store was amazing!

Billy Boy in front of the store, refreshed after falling in the fountain

I have been looking for a particular item to put in my garden for several months and I found one here. It is a gazebo! I can’t wait to get it home and reassemble it! Don’t tell my husband, he rarely comes in the back garden so it will probably be months before he ever knows it is there!

One the way back to Cedar City, we stopped at Kolob Canyon which is in the North end of Zion National Park. It is breathtakingly beautiful!

Here a few pictures of Billy Boy enjoying the scenery. Can you just imagine what Shakespeare would have written if he had seen scenery as beautiful as this?

Anyway, now for the review of the play. Last night we had our first Shakespeare play which was one of my favorites, Much Ado About Nothing.

To our delight, David Ivers (one of our favorites) was playing the role of Benedick. None of the other actors were familiar to us. I think it would be very hard not to enjoy this play since the writing is so good and hilarious, but this production was REALLY great. Beatrice was played amazingly by Kymberly Mellen, and her sparring with Benedick was entertaining. They were great together on stage. It is always surprising to me, to see how different actors will play a part that I have seen so many times before and it is always new and fun. Again, I think it goes back to the writing! Thanks William!!! I still think Claudio (Matt Tallman) is a twerp and that Hero (Sara J. Griffin) shouldn’t have taken him back after he publicly humiliated her based on lies and gossip, but oh well, she does every time I see this play so I have to accept it! I do think the actor that played Hero’s father Leonato (Robert Ramirez), would make a GREAT Othello. He was good in this but I kept “seeing” him as Othello. Another actor that deserves mention is Don Burroughs. He played the constable Dogberry. His “murder” of the English language was hilarious. Everything that came out of his mouth was wrong but we knew exactly what he meant it to mean. He was so funny. But the play was great and both Eileen and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it.

Scenes from the Green Show performers before the play starts

Oh, and did I mention the AMAZING tarts? We are on a 2 tarts a day habit now. More on those tomorrow.

Did We Start With the BEST????

2010-07-08T06:45:00.000-07:00

Day 1 at Utah Shakespeare Festival-1st Play review

A couple of notes ahead of time. First, as a child, action figures weren’t really available, especially for girls, so when I first saw a “Shakespeare” action figure I knew I had to have one. So, he will be accompanying me as I show the sites, activities, and fun around this year’s festival. There will also be a surprise visit from another action figure sometime while we are here also!!! (Aren’t you sooooo excited and curious?)

Second, there are always 6 plays at the Festival. We are only seeing 4 of the 6. “Macbeth” and “Great Expectations” are the 2 we choose not to see and the reason for that is that there is no happy ending. I’m sorry, but we, my sister Eileen and I both NEED happy endings!!!

Since our first play wasn’t until 2:00 this afternoon I decided to go to St. George this morning to buy some “School Supplies” (for my husband’s sake that is what we will call them but I will call them clothes) for a trip I am taking later this month (more on that at a later date). My sister, Eileen, was driving down today and we eventually met up at out hotel. We had a quick lunch at the Pizza Company then headed for the first play which was entitled “The 39 Steps”.

The play was inside at the Randall Jones Theater. There are 3 theaters that are the venues for the 6 plays. We were excited as we looked at our programs to see that our 2 favorite actors, Brian Vaughn, and David Ivers were both in this play!!! The other 2 actors, Aaron Galligan-Stierle and Carol Linnea Johnson, were unfamiliar to us, but they were all FANTASTIC!!

I had seen on numerous occasions the Hitchcock movie version , and recently the PBS production of this story “The 39 Steps”, which are both suspenseful. I also saw this play recently with some friends at ASU so I was looking forward to comparing the 2 productions. Due to that, we went in with the basic idea of the story. The play however, although it follows basically the same story line as the films, is not at all like the suspenseful film versions, but is a very physical, and funny play.

It opens in London, in 1935, and the main character, Richard Hannay, who is played wonderfully by Brian Vaughn, is telling us about how bored he was with life, so he decides to go to the theater, and that is where his life changes and the adventures start. He unintentionally gets involved in a murder, espionage, kidnappings, and romance throughout the play, all while trying to protect his country from the villains who are trying to sneak out of the country a secret called the “39 steps”.

The other three actors play all the other roles, which are many, throughout the play, and there are many fast costume changes which add to the fun of this show. The adventures take us from London to Scotland and back to London for the climax of the story, and we meet many interesting and funny characters along the way. There is also a love story thrown in there for fun.

We both LOVED this show and I think it was even better than the production that I saw at ASU as part of their Broadway series.

The actors were all wonderful! We all three give it a thumbs up and recommend you come see it!!!

If you don’t “do” Shakespeare it is worth the trip here just to see this one play!

Billy boy posing with a statue of Titania outside of the theater

After the play, we hit the gift shops (YEA!!!), and then eventually hit our FAVORITE restaurant for dinner in Cedar City which is La Casa Don Miguel.

This is really the BEST Mexican food outside of Mesa AZ!!! YUM!

Then to end the perfect day, we watched my all time favorite Bollywood movie “Rab Na Bana di Jodi” back at the hotel (Eileen is so nice to do this for me!). Life is sooo sweet! Stayed tuned for another review tomorrow!

A Great Trip Back in Time to the Byzantine!

2010-07-02T05:36:00.000-07:00

I recently finished the latest Anne Perry mystery entitled The Sheen on the Silk. I must say is was quite a departure from her usual Victorian or WWI murder mysteries.

The story opens in Constantinople, Greece during the Byzantine era, to be exact, the year is 1273. It is 11 years after the Emperor Michael Palaeologus had led the people of Constantinople back from the surrounding provinces, where they had been driven almost 70 years before with the invasion of the European crusaders in 1204.

The fall of Constantinople

There has been a murder of a prominent citizen who was leading the outcry against the movement to reunite the Eastern Orthodox church with the Church in Rome. The sister (Anna Lascaris)of one of the conspirators in the murder (her twin, Justinian Lascaris), has arrived to try to prove her brothers innocence. Justinian has been exiled to a desert south of Jerusalem, near Sinai, as punishment for his part in the plot. The rub is that in order to find out information to prove her brothers innocence, Anna has to masquerade as a male eunuch who is also a physician (known as Anastasiaus Zarides). Anna and Justinian’s father had been a physician and had taught them both everything about medicine and so through her expertise she was able to get access to many of the great homes of Constantinople to gain information as to the truth behind the crime.

The fall of Constantinople in 1204

I think you could almost classify this as historical fiction instead of a murder mystery. There is an especially repulsive villain in Zoe Chrysaphes who is able to kill in a multitude of ways and never have any remorse. She is wickedly entertaining!

Constantinople

I have enjoyed reading Anne Perry books for several years. They do tend to be somewhat repetitive at times, but she weaves a great story and has some really good murders in them. This book was no different, in that the story was great, and I learned a lot about the conflict between the two churches and those who wanted to reunite them. Also, learning about the threats of renewed invasions to accomplish the reunification was interesting. I didn’t know much about the history of this area. I did feel that there was too much description of the city. I think she could have reduced the size of the book (515 pages) just by cutting out the repetition in the description of the sights, smells, and people of Constantinople.

I also felt that there were too many characters to keep track of, but that could have been helped with a little more description of what their jobs were. I had to keep referring to the list of characters at the front of the book. For example, I still didn’t know what a “doge” was by the end of the book, and there were 3 of them throughout the story (I did look it up, and found out it was, formally, the chief magistrate in the republics of Venice and Genoa), but that wasn’t explained in the book, unless I missed it. But maybe this complaint is more a problem of having a bad memory that I have, than it being a fault of the book.

Anne Perry

Anyway, with those complaints out of the way, it was still a very good story and a good read. I was impressed with Perry’s knowledge of the era. I wasn’t surprised by the history I learned, because Anne Perry is very thorough in her historical research of all the books she has written. In fact, most of what I know of WWI is from her five book mystery series covering that period of history.

Unlike her Thomas Pitt, and William Monk series, I don’t think there will be another in the “Byzantine” series since it really tied things up at the end, but if there was another, I will eagerly read it so I can find out what is happening in the main characters lives and in the city of Constantinople.

Let me know what you think if you have read it!

Divorce Rates are Dropping Except If You are Over 60...

2010-06-29T07:13:00.000-07:00

My opinion of this study on divorce...

I recently heard a report on the news that divorces were decreasing in every demographic except those over the age of 60. This surprised me because I don’t see this happening with the friends and family that I associate with. The commentators felt that it was because many people of that age group married younger than we as a society do today, and so they find that they have less in common when they do have time to get to know each other.

Well, I want to give my opinion based on my experiences with friends and family that I know.

Almost three years ago, my husband was forced to switch jobs. Before he was out of work, I had a very structured life that I had shaped for myself. I NEED a regular schedule or I do not function well. The first 6 weeks that he was home, I was feeling very “invaded” as far as my schedule and daily life. I sometimes felt that he expected me to work my schedule around his now that he was home, even though we both knew it was only temporary. I really felt that our future goals of serving missions for our church together were not going to be possible because he was driving me crazy always being around! But after that first 6 weeks we began getting in sync with each other. By the end of the 7 months when he started the new job, I was surprised by how much I missed having him around. It again took about 6 weeks for me to get back to the old schedule and before I stopped missing having him around all the time.

Now from this personal experience, and seeing friends and family that have gone through the stage of retirement, I have seen that the difference between those who make the transition smoothly or not depends on the goals a couple has both together and as individuals.

Before we ever marry, I think it is important that we should know what the goals are in the life of a perspective spouse. Not just the short-term goals like college, and family etc., but the mid and long range goals also. If you have no goals as a couple past the time of raising a family, then when that family has gone, what is the plan? What if his goals don’t match yours? If you have not been working throughout your marriage towards those long range goals, it is easy to see how couples drift apart due to separate interests. If one partner sees their golden years as a time to relax and golf, or travel, or whatever, and the other partners sees it as time to do community or volunteer work, or spend time with grandkids, or whatever, then it can easily happen that you are living separate lives. Especially if you each do what you envisioned your golden years to be you will eventually drift apart.

I have seen many couples grow closer together by spending time together doing things like travel, activities, volunteer work either in the community or church, and also by having separate interests also. I think having the separate interests are important so you have something to talk about together at the end of the day. The one thing that I have witnessed that is the most important activity is the service that older people can give. They have the wisdom and experience to share talents in so many ways, that it benefits everyone they are around.

So my advice, and I am taking it myself, is to strengthen your marriage after 60, find mutual interests, and in particular, to serve together whether in your community or your church or wherever!

At least that is my opinion!

Propably the Greatest invention EVER!!!

2010-06-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

I found the greatest gadget!

I was recently shopping for some luggage and “stuff” for an upcoming trip and I found something that I have been wishing was available for many years! It is a water proof pouch for my ipod so I can listen to my music or books while swimming laps in the pool.

This product is really amazing. I LOVE swimming laps, and now that it is summer in Arizona it is really the only fun way to exercise. But is can also get monotonous just going back and forth for 30-60 minutes. Now with the Water Seals (by Lewis and Clark), it is never boring!

I can listen to anything from Billy Joel, Abba,

any of my Bollywood soundtracks to books!

Talk about multi-tasking!!! I haven’t had any problems with leaking either. It really is a tight seal.

I paid $17.99 plus tax at the retail store but I found them for less on the internet at: www.stopoverstore.com/product/detail.cfm/pnid/594/pnid2/595/nid/948/pid/2250

I’m sure there are other sites that sell it also just do an internet search.

This is a fantastic product!!!

A New Movie and a Great Interview with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

2010-06-19T22:30:00.000-07:00

I suggest that if you can find the movie "Raajneeti" playing in a theater near you you should check it out!

It has an amazing cast if you are familiar with Indian cinema but if you are not, you will still find it entertaining. I will warn you that it is quite violent but the ending is very satisfying. I wouldn't say "happy", but yes, VERY SATISFYING!!!

It follows a political party in one of the states in India and the power play between family members to get control of the party. Several performances are standout performances including Ranbir Kapoor, Ajay Devgan, and Arjun Rampal (will he ever be a "good guy" in a movie?) and finally Katrina Kaif who is great!

It was slightly confusing in the beginning but eventually I was able to figure out who was on which side and the relationships to each other.

Check out this movie if you can find it!!!

Next, my friend, Caroline, sent me this link to an interview with one of my favorite actresses, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. It is a great interview and I think you should see how classy this woman is! Here it is and ENJOY!!!

She is so beautiful!

A Movie Review...Better Late than Never!

2010-06-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

While my parents were visiting a couple of weeks ago for my son’s High School graduation, we took the time one evening to watch “Invictus”, starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon .

I felt it gave you a really good background as to what the politics and the mood of the country of South Africa might have been at the time when Nelson Mandela had become President of the country. I also felt that he really loved his country more than the power of his office of President. That is a rare quality in a politician.

Morgan Freeman was amazing in this part. He really is one of the greatest actors of our time. Matt Damon was also very good and I thought he did fine on the South African accent. The cinematography and script showed the disparity between the different races and it was drastic! I guess I can credit my parents for helping me learn at an early age that race doesn’t matter, but who you are inside and what you work for is what is important. Because of being raised this way, I still really have a hard time understanding the reasoning behind the inequalities around the world in the name of race.

I do wish that the movie would have explained a little better about the game of Rugby. If you go in knowing practically nothing about the game, you leave with the same amount of knowledge. Most “sport” type movies do help you understand the basics of the game they are dealing with as the movie progresses, and this one did not. I do think that this is the toughest game out there. It is rougher that American football and they play it without all the padding. They are REAL men that play this!!!

I do understand that it is not the game that was important, but the need for Mandela to unite the Country behind a common cause, but it would have been fun to learn a little of how the game works. I did not really understand the title either until I found out that it came from a poem that I later found and it is a very inspirational poem. It is by William Ernst Henley:

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

What a great “creed” to live by.
Check out the movie if you haven’t already.

Take my Picture....Please!!!

2010-06-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

I JUST DON'T GET IT?!?!?!?

In our state we have had to deal with red light and speeding cameras for many years. I have, and members of my family have had the delight of receiving a picture in the mail taken by them more times than I want to remember.

I don’t really understand why some people want to get rid of them. I would much rather have the police use their time on the important crimes than on trying to clock speeders. I understand that one argument against them is that they are only in it for the revenue. But money is what makes people act! I still am very cautious since receiving a ticket several years ago because I hated parting with the money for the ticket.

If getting rid of the cameras means that fewer police with be working on the really serious crimes and patrolling our streets, I think we should keep them. If my argument is wrong, please try and convince me otherwise.

If There is a Piece of Heaven on Earth it is HERE!!

2010-06-02T07:09:00.000-07:00

Last month when we were in Seattle, Bruce and I had the opportunity to take a ferry, “The Victoria Clipper”, from Seattle up to Vancouver Island, BC, and stay in Victoria for a couple of days. While there, we visited many of the Cities beautiful sites but the highlight was the amazing Butchart Gardens (pro.-BOO –chart). I have been told by numerous friends and family that I needed to see them due to my love of gardening and we finally had the chance.

First off, I thought there wouldn’t be much to see in Canada in May, but this island has an amazing eco-system. Due to the fact that the island is cut in half by a huge mountain range, the southern part of the island has a Mediterranean climate. The northern half has a very cold and wet climate. Because of this distinction, everything was blooming and beautiful except the roses.

In 1904 Robert Butchart relocated his family to Vancouver Island where he had a limestone quarry for his business he started, the Portland Cement Company. Butchart Garden was started in the early part of the 20th century and was the idea of Jennie Butchart.

As Robert exhausted the quarry, Jennie had the vision of turning the pit into a beautiful garden. She brought in top soil and slowly the first section of what we see today was created. This spectacular part of the garden is called the “Sunken Garden” and it is breathtaking!

The Sunken Garden had paths to meander through, fountains, and ponds. Every direction you looked it was a feast for your eyes!

By 1908, reflecting on their travels, the Butchart’s next planted a Japanese Garden on the sea-side part of their property. Next came the Italian Garden with a star pond, and last, they created the Rose Garden.

Mr. Robert Butchart was so proud of his wife’s creation, and he collected ornamental birds that he put in the gardens, along with decorative bird houses. The family also started collecting various statues from their travels that have been added to the gardens over the years.

By the 1920’s, the word was spreading about the Garden and over 50,000 visitors came every year. Today, over a million visitors come to enjoy the Gardens. Each year over 1,000,000 bedding plants in some 700 varieties are used throughout the Gardens to ensure uninterrupted bloom from March through October.

Now they can enjoy not only the floral beauty, but the entertainment and lighting displays presented each summer and Christmas.

You can visit the Gardens anytime year round as they plant new plants each season. The Garden is still owned and run by the family as a private business. It is an amazing place, in a beautiful location. I recommend you visit as soon as possible!

It also hade the GREATEST gift shop EVER!!! That is always a treat!

A Thought for the New Week...

2010-05-23T21:08:00.000-07:00

I watched a great movie again recently with a great thought I wanted to share with you all. Please excuse any incorrect grammar. I copied it as it was translated in the sub-titles word for word so it is not my fault. Correct or not, it still has a great point to it. This is it:

“At every turn in life, you’ll find two roads, one right and one wrong. The wrong route will be easy, it will draw you. But the right path will be hard, with lots of hazards, a lot of troubles. On the wrong road, initially you will find success and happiness, but in the end, you will lose. Upon the right, initially you may trip at every step. You may face hazards, difficulties, but in the end, you will always win. Now tell me, (are you) on the right or on the wrong path? (From the movie Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) ).

AWWW the wisdom of Bollywood! I love this movie!!!

We All Need Advice From Jane Austen!!

2010-05-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

Are you, or do you know someone who is a Jane Austen fan? Are you, or do you know someone who may be in the middle of the dating game? Ifso, I have a fun book for you to give to them. It is called, “Jane Austen’s Guide to Dating”, by Lauren Henderson. It is a delightful read. If you aren’t still dating, it makes you remember how much you didn’t like it also.

This book is a humorous way to look at the whole dating trauma, even if you are no longer “on the market”.

***Warning, this is a book that I don’t agree with some of the Moral points mentioned; for example, I believe in no pre-marital sexual relations between couples. This book doesn’t adhere to this same belief. So I would not really give it to a teenager as a REAL guide. If it was a movie, I would rate it a PG-13, so parents beware of whom you let read it.

Some of the chapters are:

Don’t Play Games or Lead People On”, “Don’t Settle—Don’t Marry for Money, or Convenience, or Out of Loneliness”, and my favorite, “Be Prepared to Wait for the Right Person to Come Along.” Some of the advice is VERY practical; the rest is just plain fun!

At the end of each chapter, there is a summary of what that chapter is about in case you need -to go back and refer to the highlights of each chapter for a re-fresher course.

Also at the end of the book there are a couple of tests. One to see which Austen character you are most like, and another, which is for finding out which Austen character you are most compatible with.

***Again a warning to parents, I needed to go through and censor (yes I said censor!) these tests in my copy of the book. Some of the choices of answers were inappropriate for anyone and didn’t need to be put in, so I took a marker to them. ***

Anyway, it is a fun book for light reading that gives a lot of examples from Jane Austen’s actual books. You really do need to be familiar with them to appreciate the context of the examples, but even if you don’t it is still fun to read. Try it out!

We Can't Live Without This!!!

2010-05-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

How long can you live without water???

In case of an emergency, Water is the most important thing we need to have available to us. Three years ago my friend Kim and I were visiting Oxford, England at the time that the Thames River over ran it's banks and flooded the whole Thames valley. Many villages were cut off and the first thing to disappear was freash drinking water. They had to have water brought in on boats in some cases. It was a crazy week. We also saw this same thing when Katrina hit in New Orleans. Water was the most needed commodity. I still remember the pictures of frustrated Moms and children crying for water or bottles of milk for infants. It was gut-wrenching!

If you think you are prepared for an emergency because you have food, but no water, forget it! You will die in 3-4 days without water, where you can live without food for a few weeks!

There are several sites that have safe water storage guidlines but I have selected the ones from FEMA to have here. I have tweeked it somewhat. For example, FEMA suggests you have a 3 day supply of water which is fine for an immediate emergency but a 2 week supply is much better. Here are the guidelines from FEMA:

Water Storage Guidelines from FEMA

Commercially bottled water in PETE (or PET) plastic containers may be purchased. Follow the container’s “best if used by” dates as a rotation guideline. Avoid plastic containers that are not PETE plastic.
If you choose to package water yourself, consider the following guidelines:

Containers

• Use only food-grade containers. Smaller containers made of PETE plastic or heavier plastic buckets or drums work well.

• Clean, sanitize, and thoroughly rinse all containers prior to use. A sanitizing solution can be prepared by adding 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of liquid household chlorine bleach (5 to 6% sodium hypochlorite) to one quart (1 liter) of water. Only household bleach without thickeners, scents, or additives should be used.

• Do not use plastic milk jugs, because they do not seal well and tend to become brittle over time.

• Do not use containers previously used to store non-food products.

Water Pre-treatment

• Water from a chlorinated municipal water supply does not need further treatment when stored in clean, food-grade containers.

• Non-chlorinated water should be treated with bleach. Add 1/8 of a teaspoon (8 drops) of liquid household chlorine bleach (5 to 6% sodium hypochlorite) for every gallon (4 liters) of water. Only household bleach without thickeners, scents, or additives should be used.

Storage

• Containers should be emptied and refilled regularly.

• Store water only where potential leakage would not damage your home or apartment.

• Protect stored water from light and heat. Some containers may also require protection from freezing.

• The taste of stored water can be improved by pouring it back and forth between two containers before use.

Additional Information

www.fema.gov/plan/prepare/water

www.redcross.org/services/prepare

Water-How Much Water do I Need?

You should have at least a 2 week supply of water and you should store at least one gallon of water per person per day. A normally active person needs at least one-half gallon of water daily just for drinking.

Additionally, in determining adequate quantities, take the following into account:

• Individual needs vary, depending on age, physical condition, activity, diet, and climate.

• Children, nursing mothers, and ill people need more water.

• Very hot temperatures can double the amount of water needed.

• A medical emergency might require additional water.

***Note: One preparedness site suggests you also want to have a small amount of cash on hand in small bills so you can buy bottled water. Otherwise, you may have to pay a lot more for the water if no change is available due to electricity being out.

Sweet, Beautiful, Touching..You Will Find All of this in "Le Papillon"

2010-05-04T16:01:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I come across a movie that is so good that I can't believe it was never shown in theaters here. That is my feelings about a wonderful French movie entitled “Le Papillon” from 2002.

I haven’t seen too many French movies but this one is a hidden gem. It stars Michel Serrault as Julien, an elderly man whose only interest in life is to catch and collect butterflies. He is “adopted” by a neglected 8 year old girl named Elsa (Claire Bouanich). She is absolutely adorable.

Elsa has had to learn how to take care of herself out of necessity. She tricks (stows away) Julien into taking her with him on a trip to the Alps where he is in search of a rare butterfly that only appears within a window of a few days a year. While on the trip, Elsa comes to love him as a grandfather figure, and he is able to bury some old ghosts that are in his life by opening his heart to her.

The scenery is of course, breathtaking, the dialogue is touching and sweet, and the love that grows between the two is life lasting. The neglectful mother learns the need to be a better mother to Elsa also and Julien continues to play a part in their lives. It is a very sweet movie. It is only 80 minutes long but it is a beautiful 80 minutes. You will come away with very tender feelings for Elsa and Julien.

"Richard III" - You Can't Miss This Production!

2010-04-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

If you read my last post, you know how I feel about Richard III and how he is remembered in history. With that said, I have to say that if you live in the Phoenix area, you can't miss the opportunity to see the Southwest Shakespeare Company's production of Richard III that is now showing in Mesa AZ, now through May 8th.

The Artistic Director, Jared Sakren, has the ability to gather great talent from not only the Valley, but outside of Arizona and this time is no different. All of the actors play their parts well.

Maren Maclean

Maren Maclean, who has been in several SSC production,s is always great to watch and I hope she is able to reprise her role of Queen Margaret in next seasons opening play "Blood Royal", which is an original adaptation of the three Henry VI plays. Dawn Tucker is beautiful and convincing as Anne Neville and Justine Hartley is fantastic as Queen Elizabeth. Hartley seems to be getting better with each of her performances this season and I hope shie will be back next season also.

Bo Foxworth

The obvious highlight though, is Bo Foxworth's depiction of Richard III. He is amazing! You can't help but love him (well maybe "love" is too strong of a word but you do like Richard in the first half) and feel like you are with him in the planning of the treacheries and murders as he plots to win the crown of England. He actually seems to slither across the stage as he explains to you what he is planning, and how he will succeed in his planning. You are then shocked when he does everything he just told you he was going to do! I am always amazing when an actor can say so much through his facial expressions and Foxworth has this down perfectly!

The two young Princes

I do think some of the scenes may be too disturbing for children. I would caution you from taking anyone under the age of 12. Particularly the scene after the young princes have been murdered, and seeing them hoisted into a trunk, and the beheading of Hastings.

My personal opinion of this play is that Shakespeare wrote it, with the part of Richard becoming so much of a caricature that most people would KNOW that Richard wasn’t this bad and that no one would believe this depiction of him. Thus, Shakespeare is cleared in the eyes of us “Yorkist” but it still helped him when it came to keeping his employer (Elizabeth I, and a Lancaster) happy.

Here is a link to SSC website for more information on this play: http://www.swshakespeare.org/

Two Reason's to Re-Visit the Question of Richard III

2010-04-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

Richard III

Last year, at about this same time, I posted this "opinion" and I wanted to re-post it for 2 reasons. One, Southwest Shakespeare Company of Mesa AZ, is going to start their production of Shakespeare's Richard III this week at the Mesa Arts Center and second, because we celebrate the Bard's birthday this Friday,the 23rd, (more on that later this week!).

See details about the show on the side bar of my blog

Since most people's precetion of Richard III comes from Shakespeare's depiction of him in this play, I wanted to show the other side of the story (or the TRUE side). Here is the post from last year with a few edits:

In March of 2009 some family members, visited England to do a tour mainly focused on Richard III. We vivsted York, his headquarters as the Duke of Gloucester and leader of Northern England during his brother, Edward IVs’, reign as king.

Micklegate Bar

In York we went to Micklegate Bar, the eastern gate to the city of York where Richard’s father and brothers’ heads were up on pikes when he first came into the city, triumphant after winning a battle with Henry VI. We went through the tacky (he deserves better)Richard III museum in Monk Bar (the Western gate to York),Barnard Castle, where he lived, Middleham Castle, his favorite castle and where he grew up, Carlisle Castle, where he was Governor for a short time.

Michael at the Richard III museum

Middleham Castle (Richard's favorite)

My sister took some of our group to Warwick Castle,( I had been there a few times already so didn’t go this time), where he visited often and his brother, Edward, was groomed to become the King (Edward IV). Lastly, we went through the Bloody Tower at the Tower of London where his Nephews were last seen alive and where their bones were found buried under a staircase a few hundred years later.

Barnard Castle in the towne of Barnard Castle

I feel I have had a long history learning about him and my thoughts about him have gone from one extreme to the other. Let me explain what I mean.

I grew up on Shakespeare. I remember the first time I heard about Richard III was from Shakespeare’s play. So the hunchback, conniving, murdering Richard was the version of the story I thought was the true, because WS wouldn’t lie.

The amazing Warwick Castle

You know, how he killed his brother, George, the Duke of Clarence, then, when the King died, he did away with the nephew’s so he could be King. Then as an adult I began to hear of the other side of the story. First I read “The Daughter of Time” by Josephine Tey. That was the first time I had ever considered that he wasn’t guilty of those killings. I was intrigued. Next I read “The Sunne In Splendor” by Sharron Kay Penman. That book convinced me of his innocence in the murders. Another book that I read was “Royal Blood”, by Bertram Fields.

Me at a window that Richard had added to the castle at Barnard Castle

In this book the author takes all the facts as we know them and presents a kind of trial and the result is that Richard III was found not-guilty of the murder of his nephews. (*Another book that I am reading now entitled, Eleanor, The Secret Queen by John Ashdown-Hill studies Edward's marriage to Eleanor Talbot before he married Elizabeth Woodville, therefore, making his children with Elizabeth illegitimate, and Richard claim to the the crown legitimate).

Three years ago I took a class at Oxford University and in meeting my classmates at a reception, one woman, a distinguished lawyer from Washington DC, found out that I had taken a class previously on the War of the Roses (the 13 year war between the York’s and the Lancaster’s for the crown). She immediately asked me which side of the Richard III question I stood. When I told her I believed him innocent of the murders, she invited me to join the “Ricardian Society of America”, which is a group of history buffs that try to turn the publics’ opinion of Richards’ innocence, through the facts that are available. I had never even heard that there was such a group, but apparently there are branches all over the world! One group even meets monthly in a Medieval Hall in York close by Micklegate Bar.

It is an interesting subject to study if you are a history buff like me. But as much as I hate to cast any dispersions on William Shakespeare, I have to admit that he was first a business man, and wrote the play to please Elizabeth I, whose grandfather was the one that killed Richard at the battle of Bosworth Field. WS knew which side his bread was buttered and so I don’t fault him too much. I leave the question to each of you to see the other side of the story and make your decision after learning the facts.

**ps-Jane Austen was a Yorkist also. See her entry about Richard III in her book, The History of England by a partial, prejudiced and ingnorant Historian. Need I have any other proof of his innocence?

The Greatest Product for Organization!

2010-04-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

I have found the greatest product if you want to organize and effectively rotate your canned goods in your cupboard or storage room. Let me tell you about it!

Most Emergency Preparedness sites encourage you to have a supply of food on hand for emergencies. It can range from a 72 hour emergency food kit to up to 1-2 years of food. In our church, they encourage us to get a 3 month supply of food you eat every day, and then begin to accumulate a longer term food supply that includes wheat, rice, dried beans etc. The problem with this, is finding the space to store it and how to rotate it efficiently. I have been very creative in “hiding” the food almost everywhere in our home since we don’t have a basement or a large storage space for food.

I recently received a handout for a product that helps with the rotation, storage and organization of canned goods. They are called, Can Organizers. They are cardboard boxes that fold into units that you load the can into the top and it rolls around to the bottom, so you are constantly rotating the cans you buy! It is amazing, and INEXPENSIVE!!! I have purchased plastic shelving that does this but they are costly so I was so excited to try these!

They come in 2 sizes, a cupboard size and a pantry size. They eliminate the need to but special shelving units that do the same job! The cupboard size holds; 6 pie fillings, 8 vegetable cans, 9 soup cans, or 18 tuna fish cans. The Pantry size holds; 13 pie filling, 16 vegetable cans, 18 soup cans, or 39 tuna cans. I love them! The web-site to see the product is: http://www.thecanorganizer.com/

The printed instructions for folding them is not very good, but there is a video on the web-site that shows how to do it and it only takes a couple of minutes once you see how it is done.

Check it out!!!

What Happened to Church Bells?

2010-03-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

I recently was working a show (I volunteer at the souvenir table for Southwest Shakespeare Company at the Mesa Arts Center), and as we finished up after intermission, and I was walking to my car, the bells at the Methodist Church just south of the MAC began to ring 12:00, noon.

York Minster Abbey, York, England

It was so beautiful and it made me wish that all the churches still had bells. I never get to hear church bells unless I am in England and it is such a beautiful sound.

Random church bells

When did churches stop putting bells in them? I know in my lifetime, at least not that I am aware of, there haven’t been any churches built of any denomination that have had bells built in them. One other church here in Mesa had church bells. They were electronic but they were still beautiful. It was in an Episcopal church we lived by when we first moved to Mesa in 1982 and I loved listening to them.

Westminster Abbey, London, England

I later read in the newspaper that the neighbors were complaining so I think they stopped them, which was very sad.

I wonder if the demise is the church bells has to do with the advent of the telephone? I know in the past, the bells were used to alert, warn, or call the people of the area, so maybe they weren’t needed as much with the invention of the telephone.

My nephews, Mitchell, Tyler, Thomas, and son Michael with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background

I don’t know what the reason is but I miss them. Now, if I am ever needing to go downtown, I try to time it so I am there when the bells will be ringing. It is just beautiful!

I Have a New "Cause"...Down with Green Dots!

2010-03-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I have a MAJOR sweet tooth! I have also come to realize that your tastes change as you get older. As Shakespeare said, “doth not the appetite alter? A man loves the meat in his youth that he cannot endure in his age.” (“Much Ado About Nothing” a2 s3).

Kenneth Branagh as Benedick in "Much Ado About Nothing"

For example, I LOVE chocolate!

My favorite candy bar! Dark Chocolate Bounty bar

However, I don’t like milk chocolate anymore, only dark chocolate. Also, I would rather have other types of candy over chocolate, like Starbursts, Hot Tamales, or Dots.

Which brings me to my point; I think we need to get rid of the green dots. They taste AWFUL!! Usually different colored candy taste all the same, i.e., M&M’s, they all taste the same no matter the color. Not so with Dots! The green ones taste so nasty! So I am starting the “Get rid of the green dots” movement. Who is with me???