my house is wrecked

actually by now it is all put back together. but yesterday it was a mess. the carpet cleaner was due between 11am and 1pm. I had to get as much furniture off of the carpet as possible so they could do a thorough job. I spent all morning moving things and clearing out the rooms. must of the furniture got pushed into the family room by the pool table, which is usually empty or the garage.


i was instructed not to put the furniture back until this morning so the carpets would have ample time to dry. the realtor called around 10 am to ask if i was ready for a showing! I just put it back on the market on Tuesday. I busted my ass from 10:30 until 1:30 to get it all put back together.

Must Love Dogs

I got a craving for Must Love Dogs this morning. I woke up early and starting working on things and I got sick of the music for some reason. I wanted to watch a movie that I didn't have to pay attention to but that I could listen to and peak at from time to time. Since I've seen this before it's perfect. I love both Diane Lane and John Cusack. His obsession with Doctor Zhivago is so cute. I caught that movie one late night and stayed up to watch the whole thing. I love that movie too. And it totally cracks me up when Diane Lane answers her own father's personal ad for a blind date!

Food Network Subliminal Advertising?

The Food Network claims this is a glitch, but it seems very convenient! I was trying to watch this Iron Chef episode last Sunday because the challenger used all sorts of technical things when cooking, but I had my nose in the computer and was just listening so I miss it.

The President or Rachael Ray

Last night George W. gave his State of the Union address. I could only have it on for five minutes before I had to turn that shit off. President says something, people clap. President says something, people clap. It's just stupid.

I turned on the food network and $40 a Day was on. I usually don't watch that Rachael Ray show because I don't like it. But it was 20x better than watching the President on all the other channels!

Bear Down, Chicago Bears!

I can't believe THE CHICAGO BEARS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!!!!!!

Hell Yeah! And I can't believe I'm not in Chicago for this. Tonight's game was so awesome and it totally made me homesick. Cuddled up on the couch while it's snowing and a Bears game is on tv. . . life doesn't get much better.

The Illusionist

I will watch any movie with Edward Norton. I will watch any movie with Paul Giamatti. I love movies set in historical time periods. Vienna is one of my favorite cities. The Illusionist, starring Edward Norton as Eisenheim the illusionist and Paul Giamatti as Inspector Uhl, is set in turn-of-the-century (20th century) Vienna.

The story is told from the point of view of Inspector Uhl and is mostly presented in a series of flashbacks. The cinematography is amazing. It really draws you in with the old-world feel through deep, saturated colors. And my favorite city of Vienna is absolutely gorgeous in this film. For me it is such eye-candy to get to enjoy. Even though it is not a true mystery movie, it plays that way because we are left wondering if the magicians powers are real or just magic. I first heard about this movie while listening to an interview on NPR. It was described as the movie being an illusion about an illusionist. I loved it. I even watched it a second time to listen to the the audio commentary on the DVD which was great. Most of the "illusions" that were performed in the film were not digital. They real illusions were recreated and then filmed. The DVD commentary explained how all of the illusions were created and it is really interesting.

cooking news

when you search the internet for news about cooking, you end up finding articles like this:

Woman Gets 15 Years For Cooking Oil Death

spiders on drugs

i found this video on wonked.net under the post "best youtube ever. i promise." i think he may be right.

a new workout

Intervention: Cristy

I like to watch Intervention on A&E on Sunday nights when I can. For some sadistic reason I am really drawn to druggie stories and I get my voyueristic pleasure from this show. Tonight was the Intervention of Cristy. This one was actually really hard to watch because the girl was SO crazy. She'd just hang out naked and prance around. She lived in a total pig sty and would lay on the bed and just write and draw this crazy math stuff. She is only 24. It's so sad.

a cornbread adventure

last night i went over to Julie's so we could do some cooking. we made cornbread with scallions from food & wine's 100 tastes to try. julie also made sweet potatoes and she bought a roast chicken from publix. it all went perfect together. then she made chocolate lava cake for desert which she served with red velvet ice cream. there went my diet! but it was soooo good.


we also broke into the $66 bottle of biodynamic wine i ordered from tandem winery. it was really good as well. i did a write up for a blogging event on my food blog.

Dreamgirls

My friend got me the screener for Dreamgirls and I woke up at 7:45 on a Sunday morning to watch it. Dreamgirls is an awesome movie. The music is great. I've been listening to the soundtrack since it came out. But the movie is amazing. It is not a dancing and singing movie, although there is some dancing and singing. It's a drama. A journey of three women. The singing is mainly performances of the talented Dreamettes. It's not all happy and cheery, there is some grit as there is in real life.

Eddie Murphy does a great job as a James Brown type of character. At the beginning didn't have much faith in his performance because I kept picturing his James Brown imitations from Saturday Night Live, but he is real. Each and every member of the cast does a great job. Even Beyonce, who I usually don't like all that much, was excellent. She plays the sugar-sweet star. She really is gorgeous and she really shines. And she sings her heart out too. Jamie Foxx is a bastard, and he does a hell of a job in that role.

It gave me chills when they were running the credits and they made a big deal with the music and graphics "and introducing, Jennifer Hudson." She definitely is a star. What a voice. I loved her on American Idol and I love her in the role of Effie. I want to watch it all again.

the color of my blog's personality

I found a neat quiz online: What's the Color of Your Blog Personality and...

My Blog Personality's True Color Is... RED It's all about passion, heat, and intensity. I take pride in my strengths and I learn to deal with my weaknesses. I like to blog about things that really matter to me.

Becks & Posh move to US

I'm excited. I love soccer and think it is a shame that we Americans do not consider it as much of an important sport as other countries do. It is another way we are isolating ourselves from the world. I heard the good news this morning that David Beckham will join the L.A. Galaxy soccer team. He says that it's not about the money, even though his contract is for $250 million. During his interview with Good Morning America he mentioned that he is exicted to live in the United States, specifically L.A. with his wife and children and that it will be a good thing for the whole family. He is also happy to be a part of bringing soccer to more of a forefront in the American sports scene, which is what he hopes will happen.

provoking poem

one of my MySpace friends posted this poem as a bulletin. It really makes me think.

GOD PROTECTS THE JUST

Please
Don't lie to good people

And
Please
Don't make believe
And try to play them for fools

Cause
You'll get jammed
Into their memories

And then they will forgive you
And you'll tumble to the bottom of the sea

And then you'll rise up
And try to make them angry

So they will not then
Forgive you

And you'll still remain in view
But they will forgive you completely

And you will wish
You had never lied to them
Or treated them like objects
Or animals

Knowing it dragged you through
Cause they are protected
And you'll be shackled to
All the things they do

Wondering why
You cannot get away from your own town
You are always down and angry
Angry and down

Cause the people you have hurt
They all own a part of you
And then they finally get better
And you come unglued

Cause someone taught you wrong
And you believed them
Cause you do not try to hurt a person
Who does not try to hurt you

Cause God protects
The honest and the just
And you can test this theory
But your game will go bust

And you will come out weary
Not knowing who to trust
Cause the people who taught you
They taught you to rust

And your bones will ache
And your teeth will break
And your face will stick to your bones
And you will look like a plastic
Freeway cone

Being crushed by all the people
You hurt
In your mobil home

You treated them like dirt
And God will take back what you owe

And those that you have hurt
Will be sitting pretty
And you will be sitting
All alone

Trying to figure out
Why treating people badly
Did not give you what you wanted

And why you believed the liar
Who's now burning in the fires
You still promote

And he's trying to make you go there
Cause he knows that he was wrong
And this is his very last chance is to make you
Come along

And be as miserable as he is
Cause he made the big mistake
He made a deal with a snake
He did not think

And now he wishes he had thought
But he had his chance and now he's caught
And he only wants to see you rot
Where he is burning forever

Cause Jesus Christ was innocent
And that is why you hates him
If you do

And Jesus still loves you
And this makes you hate him even more
If you do

Cause when he loves you
You get scared
And start to know he was not the problem
The problem was in your attitude

And you are just too scared to admit
That you made your own bed
So you hate Jesus Christ instead
If you do

Because Jesus Christ is innocent
Never committed a sin
Because Jesus Christ is innocent
Through thick and thin

And the Innocent One
Make the guilty ones
Feel small and weak

And the innocent ones
Make the guilty ones
Know that they were wrong

Their feelings were too strong
So they let their feelings drive
They confused themselves
On purpose

Cause they were too scared
Of death and money
To think

And now they are all running
Cause they are too scared to think
On purpose

Mr Pitiful - Meet You in the Morning

color trends for 2007

it looks like PINK is going to be BIG this Spring according to some of the color trends being reported on. i suppose we will also see lots or grey stoney colors, brown and various blues.

The creative is the place where…

"The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work and risk, and by not quite knowing what you are doing. What you will discover will be wonderful. What you discover will be yourself."

-- Alan Alda

a favorite zoo circle journal

i received a package on saturday but forgot about it and just opened it tonight. it's my completed circle journal. i created the "A Favorite Zoo" circle journal in september of 2005. since then it got shipped around to another girl each month. she added a scrapbook layout with pictures of her favorite zoo. and round and round it went until it got back to me - completed! i'm so excited. everyones layouts look so cute.

the only bummer is that i asked everyone to add a different zoo, but i got two san antonio zoos and two lincoln park zoos. figures.

i can make everyone an angel

i got some scrapbooking goodies today. the new screen print rub-ons from Hambly Studios. i have been looking all over for some angel wings and finally this company came out with them. i got them in silver, black and gold. now i can put them on everyone's pictures on my scrapbook pages. hee hee. i also got a the pirate set in gold. i plan to use those for Gasparilla at the end of the month. and of course i also had to get some gold field flowers. all of there rub-ons are great and i had a hard time deciding on just five.

Gipsy Kings - Baila Me

I love the Gipsy Kings. I used to listen to them all the time. Baila Me, which means Dance with Me in Spanish, is one of my favorites.



Cuando sei Maria Dolores ( When I met Maria Dolores)
Cuando sei quei mal d'amore ( that's when I met [knew of] a bad love)
Cuando sei quei mal a su vera ( when I knew of her evil ways)
Cuando sei me va al dottore (that's when I know I had to go see the doctor)
Baila(x7) me (dance with me)

Esta rumba a ta gitana (this song for you, gipsy )
Que yo siempre cantare (is the one I will always sing )
Pero yo siempre cantare (x2) (but I will always sing )
Esta rumba a ta gitana (this song for you, gipsy)
Que yo siempre cantare ( is the one I will always sing)

Que solo vivo enamore te(x2) ( I live to fall in love with you)
Me enamore de esta gitana ( I fell in love with this gipsy)
Que ya se ponga a bailando ( begin dancing, already!!)

My Super Ex-Girlfriend

"Needy, jealous, controlling . . .. The trifecta. Perfect."

The title may turn some people off, but My Super Ex-Girlfriend is a really funny movie and deserves some credit. Ivan Reitman's light comedy doesn't have to be a "realistic" movie since the plot is about a man dating a woman who has superhero powers. However it ends up being a portrayal of challenges that actually might occur if an average person had to deal with a boyfriend or girlfriend with special powers. And they are funny ones.

Uma Thurman plays Jenny Johnson who is G-Girl, New York’s resident superhero, in disguise. Her superhero powers cause her to have a hard time in her relationships with men. Luke Wilson plays Matt Saunders, the unsuspecting man who asks her out on a date. The first half of the movie is about the two of them getting together and him finding out about her powers. Later, we find out that G-Girl is jealous, needy, and a little crazy so Luke Wilson has to dump her. And watch out world when that happens. She is a woman scorned and starts using her powers against him. She stalks him and tried to mess up his life in every way that she can. She fucks with his work and personal life by doing some hella funny shit.

A special treat is the supporting cast. They are the ones that really make this movie. Eddie Izzard plays Professor Bedlam, a super villain and G-Girls' arch-nemesis. Wanda Sykes plays Luke Wilson's supervisor at work. Rainn Wilson from The Office and Six-Feet Under plays his best friend.

The ending is kind of cheesy, but 80% of this movie is truly funny. It's what I call a quality rental. Watch while in a good mood.

And one more thing, there is a scene what Eddie Izzard tells Luke Wilson that he can email him at professorbedlam.com. And there really is a website. I love Eddie Izzard. It cracks me up just looking at him.

Tomorrow Never Knows

From The Beatles "Love" album.


I'm dying to go to Vegas just to see the Cirque du Soleil show "Love" featuring this music. Anyone want to go with me?

Nora Roberts Movies

Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors. She is sometimes categorized as a romance novelist. But her novels are usually mystery/thrillers - they just all have a little romance thrown in as well. Starting January 29, Lifetime will be airing four movies based on Nora Roberts novels. One movie will air each Monday night for four weeks in a row.

The movies will be based on the following her novels are Angel's Fall (starring Heather Locklear), Montana Sky, Carolina Moon, and Blue Smoke.

I am not sure if it is good or bad that I have not read any of those four books. Some of them were part of a trilogy. I never read the trilogy books because I can't keep track of the order. I HATE reading books out of order. The thing about reading a book is that you kind of make your own movie in your mind. So to see it on TV might not bring justice to how I pictured it. But by not reading them, I'm afraid of editing will cut the story short and I will not get the same experience as reading the book.

Oh well, I'm going to check them out anyways. At least the first one. I hope Lifetime does justice to Nora Roberts writing.

someone ate my lunch

and i'm annoyed. yes, i waited until 3:30 to eat lunch today. and now i'm starving and my frozen lunch is gone. there are two other lean cuisine's in the freezer but they have people's names on them. i'm thinking that maybe one of them grabbed mine by mistake. how annoying.

I So Want This T-Shirt

from payperpostgear.com.

Top Ten Can't Miss TV Events for 2007

BuddyTv has recently posted their Top Ten Can't Miss TV Events for 2007. I can't help but adding my $0.02.

10. Saturday Night Live Returns to Glory
I haven't watched Saturday Night Live several years ago. I thought I grew out of it. But some of the clips I have been seeing on YouTube lately have been hysterical. Maybe I'll just have to start checking it out.

9. A Fired Ari on Entourage
Oh no! I didn't watch the last season of Entourage. The Fired Ari? I'm going to have to subscribe to HBO again this month anyways so I can catch the Sopranos.

8. NBC's Thursday Night Comedy Line-Up
Not for me. On Thursday's I watch ABC. Especially since Lost will move to Thursdays to get out of the way of American Idol. And Men in Trees is on that night as well.

7. The Amazing Race: All-Star Edition
I won't be watching this one. I never got into The Amazing Race so there is no point in me checking out an All-Star version.

6. A Return to Jail on Prison Break?
Nope, won't be watching this either.

5. One Tree Hill, Season 5
Nope. Haven't even heard of that show.

4. The End of Sopranos
HELL YEAH! Now this is what I've been waiting for. The Sopranos is absolutely genius. I will need to re-subscribe to HBO before it starts on April 8, 2007.

3. Jack Bauer and his Dad
I stopped watching 24 a while ago. There are just too many other good shows out there. I doubt I'll pick back up again.

2. The Simpsons Movie
That's cheating! It's not even on TV.

1. Sixteen Straight Weeks of Lost
I agree 100%. I can't wait. I hope there are some juicy clues given away.

Talking Dogs

These dogs are saying "Hello" and "I Love Mama"!

Life is Pretty Simple

I love this DaVinci quote from Elise so much I just had to post it here as well so I could remember it.

New Calendar Day

Today is the first day back at work in the New Year. So that means I get to hang up all my new calendars. I donate to many animal charities throughout the year and they seem to all send me one of their calendars. I have enough space at my desk to hang up three calendars. It's always hard to decide which ones I like best. I gave the extra ones to my friends to bring home for their children. All the animal and nature photography featured in the calendars really inspire me at work.

This year I chose the World Wildlife Fund Wildlife Babies calendar and the National Wildlife Federation Treasures of Wildlife calendar which both feature a variety of animals from around the world. which features a variety of animals from around the world. My third choice is the annual National Parks Conservation Association calendar which features wonderful landscape photography of the US National Parks.

For January, my decorations include a polar bear cub playing in the snow in Alaska, a Canada lynx with his nose burried in some snow, and the snow-capped peaks of Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state.

Happy 2007! (and some New Year's Quotes)

“Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”
-- William Arthur Ward

Happy and Peaceful New Years! What is it about New Years and Birthdays . . . they both offer so much hope. And also a sense of pride if you can look back at your life and acknowledge your accomplishments. I am a goal-oriented person so I love the new year because it's a time set some goals.

It kind of caught me off guard this morning when I saw 1/1/07 as the date on my cell phone. I wonder how many weeks it will be before I start dating things '07 instead of '06. . .

Supposedly, it used to be thought that one could affect the luck they would have throughout the year based on what they did on New Years Day. So today I will start off by checking out the Tournament of Roses Parade while I do a few things on the computer. I may also watch a movie and take a nap. I'll be eating leftover risotto which I made last night and cooking a Tiddlywinks Toadstool Pie (just because of the fun name - it's like a mushroom quiche) and maybe making Taylor and Tristen some Doggie Burgers. What kind of luck will that bring me?

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”
-- Oprah Winfrey

“New Year's Day - Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.”
-- Mark Twain