TV - Montalbano: Il Senso Del Tatto

Pretty good episode. Blind guy dies, big black guide dog Orlando ends up outside. Montalbano immediately sniffs out something odd. Leads him to a 'vacation' with Livia to outlying island where he uncovers a desperate hotel owner, a fisherman who catches nothing but has state of the art computers and multiple TV setup. Turns out to be a sordid ring of drug smuggling by the blind guys who hide the product in their canes, with a barking seeing eye dog as a distraction. Orchestrated by a very respectable advancing political figure. The scene where Montalbano asks where Orlando is, and gives the guy a choice of 2 guns/scenarios was really good. They find him in an undercave dog fighting ring at the end. Catarella is so cute in his outrage at the dogs' treatment. Nice.

TV - Les Vacances de Maigret

Really liked this one, pretty good. While visiting his in-laws in Belgium, wifey gets ill and ends up in hospital. While there, a mysterious patient, along with a slipped note in Maigret's pocket piques his interest. Sordid tale of doctor, who tried to kill sister-in-law, kills little red-haired girl, and imprisons wife. Maigret steps on everyone's toes while 'not' investigating. Hilarious.

So annoyed the ending was cut off, just as Maigret's turning the screws on the good doctor.

Visited The Legion, Had Some Fish

After a miserable Christmas, Hubby insisted we go out. Mainly to distract me, and maybe lift our spirits a little. Fine, we dropped by the Legion. Always nice to see the ocean, and the museum grounds. Spent a little time inside, couldn't enjoy anything. Did see my 2 favorite pieces, and picked up a few art books.

Afterwards had an early dinner at the fish place around the corner. Good, cozy family-like ambiance, but subpar food.


Masterworks of European Painting In The California Palace of The Legion of Honor.














Legion of Honor: Selected Works

TV - Maigret: La Vente à La Bougie

Was I not in the mood? French references we didn't get? Hubby even wanted to watch this with me, mostly to keep me company while we were mourning our boy.

Whatever. This one just plain sucked. Incredibly boring, thin story that was just repetitive. Maigret's in town to check out an "ex-con" now managing a small hotel. Meanwhile there's a candle auction to sell some old lady's house that has a story of hidden treasure in it. Guy gets stabbed to death in bed, all the guests become suspects. Another guy dies. Maigret still investigates even while sick in bed. Turns out to be the 2 cousins.

Movie - Quantum of Solace

One shitty day - After his flight, taking Mozart to the vet one last time for his autopsy, getting the results, Hubby decided we needed to get out of the house for a distraction. We hadn't seen the new Bond film yet (I'm a fan), so he insisted we go.

Apropo title - there was no measure of comfort for us because of Bubby. When the lion logo roared, I cried. We always joked that that was Mozart, that's how he saw himself.

The movie: AWFUL. What an awful mess. There was no coherence to the overwrought, messy story. Awful bad guy who wasn't conceivably close to being a bad guy. Bond was actually pretty good, almost scary. Didn't have anything to do other than pretend to be Bourne, though. The entire movie stank of Bourne. If I wanted to see that, I'd just pop in our DVDs. Fer crying out loud. Hubby thought it was quite entertaining. Lots of action. That was good for him.

Mozart Passed Away

Our beloved little furrboy died suddenly last night. I was playing with him, then turned around to get their dinner, when he suddenly collapsed.

Our hearts are broken.

Book - Rounding The Mark

Good read. Most brooding book so far in the series, though not as dark as Aurelio Zen. Camilleri's seriously outraged with the establishment and taking it out in this book. His disillusionment with the 'establishment' starts to reach a breaking point. The most character development yet, including his own physical limitations.

The police force's excessive use of force and frame-up job at the G8 summit gives law enforcement a black eye, which Montalbano takes as a personal affront to his own professional reputation. While he's taking his usual swim, he bumps into a corpse. In addition, he also crosses paths with a illegal immigrant boy whose behavior puzzles him. These two people intersect in the course of his investigation, thru a sordid world of human trafficking, to a 'blockbuster' kind of ending, which was a little letdown. Doesn't matter, though, excellent book overall.

Book - Rituals of The Season

Haven't picked up a Margaret Maron in several years. I enjoyed The Bootlegger's Daughter, Up Jumps The Devil, and a couple more after that, then the interest faded.

This was 50 cents at a book sale, so why not? Holiday theme, Deborah Knott, sure. Meh. Nice piece of fluff, decent light reading. The writing's ok, I was kinda bored with it, and it didn't help that it was so obvious right at the beginning who the killer was.

Pretty Novica necklace

Just got this in the mail from Overstock, and wow, it's a really cute piece! Even the box is really nicely crafted, although I would have preferred a cheaper container, since I just toss this stuff away.

Favorite Album - Count Basie

How Do I Love This Album. Let Me Count The Ways. Masterpiece.

Camera Broken

In keeping with the theme of electronic crap conking out, my camera is malfunctioning. Must spend much money to get new one. Been reading all the reviews researching. Extraordinarily frustrating. Utterly pathetic: apparently the 5-6 year use of my devices is considered an exceptional lifetime. Apparently anything I buy these days have a 2-3 yr lifetime, and I should be happy. Are you kidding me?!?

Me no happy. Me very angry. Me Homer. Homer smash things.

Up a little (very little) on the happy meter: got my (cheap $) Simpsons DVDs in the mail today. Yay.

Continuing Comcast Troubles

Got a very nice and COMPETENT guy out today! The second competent guy in a row - will the universe explode? Getting very tired of the continuing signal problems, the moronic phone people who try to insist it's our problem, and the wrong people they send out to waste mine and their time. Wasted visit for the poor guy who came out Tuesday - I knew that, he knew that, but *that's* what the idiot phone guy had insisted on. So he looked at the DVR, looked at our wiring inside the house, nope, no problem. He was very nice and knowledgeable, unlike the string of other idiots. Identified right away as a signal/network problem, *like I said*, and flagged it for the appropriate guy.

But still no fix as of today, and had to call again. Competent phone guy *gasp*. Sent out the right technician, who theorizes that it's a bad connection between the hub and our house, since his meter readings indicated problems in the higher cable numbers. The wiring in the hub is new, but the wiring leading to our house is still old. The message I'm getting is that the idiot that "upgraded" the service area a year ago was too freaking lazy to upgrade that hub's old wiring to any of our houses, which is why we've all had intermittent problems since the "upgrade".

Great Price on The Simpsons DVDs!

Woohoo!! Hubby decided to buy his bluetooth off Amazon, so I took a quick look at a few things I was planning to buy later, and excellent! - Simpsons seasons 9 & 10 both going for $17 each!! Now I'm almost done with the collection - can't decide whether to get 11 or not. It was already downhill by season 8, I had to get 9 for "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", and there were enough decent episodes in 10.

It's really sad to see the brilliance of the first several seasons, then see the embarassing drivel of the current seasons. It really should have been stopped. I still remember the first time I saw a short of the Simpsons at an animated festival - so freaking funny and memorable.

Music Collection on Zune (I Think)

Got a new hard drive, the Freeagent (the second one) also conked out within days. So far so good for this one (My Book). Finally have enough room to rip all my music, and load it into the Zune. All during the last month. And the last one was ripped tonight. Woohoo!!!!! All my beautiful operas, symphonies and other music are on the little device. Only CD that wouldn't read anymore was La Forza del Destino, so I have to buy a new one. Pretty pissed about it, but no time for a rant about the whole industry.

I've got the home system hooked up so I just plug the Zune in. Now all I need is a car adapter to play it in the car, and I'm set.

Movie - L'Homme du Train

Another excellent movie for our Thanksgiving movie marathons. A leisurely paced character observation. The developing relationship between the gentleman retired teacher Manesquier and the bank robber Milan is mesmerizing. It was an excellent reflection on that 'road not taken'. The understated performances of both actors really emphasized the scenes and highlighted the dialogue in a way an overwrought performance couldn't have.

One evocative scene was the two of them quietly sharing a meal, and Manesquier asks Milan if he's really going to rob the bank that day (yup), then expresses his wish and disappointment that he can't participate cause he really can't reschedule his appointment. All delivered in a matter-of-fact, typical conversational tone.

Movie - Cinema Paradiso

WE LOVED THIS MOVIE!!!!! Saw the director's cut, which was about 3 hours long. What a thoughtful, almost perfect movie. A loving tribute for cinema history lovers, but also accessible to the rest of us - a poignant love story, the evolution of cinema along with the evolution of a small town, a culture and a fading way of life. Beautiful storytelling.

A few days later I watched the theatrical release version. Also wonderful, but I think I prefer the other version. More satisfying.

Book - The Patience Of The Spider

Very ambivalent about this book. Can't decide whether I like it or not. Merits a second reading later.

It's definitely the most introspective one in the series, and departs significantly from previous books. For the first time, Montalbano's not solving a murder, but a kidnapping. And he's not really supposed to be solving anything. He's recovering from a gunshot wound, Livia's come to nurse him, and Mimi's taken over his duties temporarily. He's instead consulting with the investigative head.

His disillusionment is strongest in this work, as he tries to understand a hatred and revenge so naked that it overrode all other considerations.

Berkeley: Bongo Burger, Amoeba and Peets

Pretty much says it all. Pleasant afternoon bumming around Telegraph. Kinda empty. Negatives: couldn't get a non-metered spot, and turned out to be a game day. Had to beat the post-football crowd. But still, nice. Tasty Persian burger, Hubby got the falafel. Got a few CDs (Three Tenors, Paganini, Obrigado Brazil), live (grunge-like) band performing, and a very tasty eggnog latte.

Book - Gone

I know, I know.....I really should stop hoping for a good Kellerman...but hope springs eternal. There's glimpses of the smart, excellent writing and plot points, but not enough to save the book from mostly being a mess of half-baked ideas.

Kidnap hoax of young aspiring actor couple turns into real death for the girl, then the boy disappears. Other deaths get linked, and by the end of the book culminates...sorta...with the old Oedipal complex thing....

Legion of Honor

Don't remember when I went last, so I need to visit again soon! Cleaned out one of my purses and discovered these notes for a past visit, no date. I'll make sure to sneak some pics next time, but meanwhile, I'll place-hold the images with ones from the Legion's website.


Konstantin Makovsky, The Russian Bride's Attire, 1887.
Very large-scale work, well composed, excellent brushwork, luminous colors. There's so much to see here, from the excited expressions of the children, to the sadness of the bride, to the worried looks of her friends, to the blasé been-there-done-that-many-times expressions of the matriarchs, ending with the father(?) at the doorway. The ceiling itself is amazing. Wish I knew more about Russian history, how romanticised the artist rendered the scene, and how it really was.




Jean-Lèon Gèrôme, The Bath, 1880-1885
Dunno why I love this so much - excellent composition, juxtaposition of contrast colors, or feeling like I could be transported to that bath (like the Russian Bride too), but this is just a really wonderful piece.

Continuing Zune saga

OMG this software really sucks. Amazing how they get away with it. Well, I can't really point fingers, I was complicit by buying the Zune. The device itself has been excellent....bright, easy enough to navigate. The only stupid thing it doesn't have is a 'delete from device'. Come on...even my tiny Sansa clip has the capability!

The software, though.....WTF!!!!!! Too many faults and bugs to list...but the bug-du-jour is: I have multiple different songs that are being recognized as duplicates that the program then refuses to add to the collection. Every time I change the tags, it thinks that it's smarter than me, and changes it back. I've been looking online everywhere trying to get some suggestions, and nothing's working. I have no idea what all the songs have in common that's making Zune think they're dups. Agggghhhh! What a colossal waste of time so far.

Pixie's Expression

Catsitter had mentioned Pixie had such big eyes sometimes, like she's always surprised. Of course! Yes, that's the look... LOL....she has a wide eyed surprised expression most of the time. It's so adorable.

Ginza's Extra-Clingy

Over the last week Ginza's been really clingy, trotting around with me 24-7. Getting under the blankets to sleep with me, sitting over the covers spooning with me, demanding his pets first thing in the morning, cuddling with me the minute I sit down anywhere, etc. Checked that he's peeing and pooping well, so he's not sick. Must just be delayed missing Mommy?

TV - Montalbano: Gli arancini di Montalbano

Man, is Montalbano sexy! This was one of the best episodes I've seen so far: tight story, good pacing, good script. Even the issue of illegal Albanians is nicely woven into the story without sounding preachy.

Montalbano's very popular: everyone's invited him to celebrate New Year's with them. Sadly, he's stuck going to Paris with Livia. Even worse: he'll be missing Adelina's deep fried rice croquettes! Luckily (?!?), an accident with 2 fatalities gives him the perfect excuse to stay and investigate all the way up to New Year's Eve, when he gets to sample his housekeeper's food with her family. Meanwhile, he keeps getting Mimi into hot water with Beba. And he uncovers a tale of revenge where a bastard child (the auto mechanic) screws his dad's wife, sets them both up to die in a 'malfunctioning' car, and frames the legitimate son. When he knows he's been found out, he shoots himself in front of his beloved mother's grave.

TV - Montalbano: Tocco d'Artista

Not one of the better ones for me, because I didn't get the whole Sicilian vendetta thing (yeah, yeah, Godfather I/II/III notwithstanding). One brother's elaborately planned revenge against the other for something done decades back when they both liked the same girl. He commits suicide, but makes it look like his brother murdered him.

Book - Dirty Work

Book's plot stunk, but the main characters were still fun and entertaining. These are great reads only for the road, when I'm constantly distracted and not really paying much attention to the book. Won't try reading these again with my full attention. LOL.

Evil super-assassin chick does revenge rampage on MI6, in Manhattan, of course. Stone's the only one who can and successfully brokers a sit-down b/t the head and killer chick (?!?!!!)

TV - Maigret Se Trompe

Second viewing. Better. Don't get that whole blind devotion thing to one guy that some women have, so I wasn't particularly sympathetic.

Louise Filon is found shot in her apartment. Her sugar daddy happens to live upstairs with his wife. But the boyfriend is the prime suspect, and he's on the lam. Maigret unravels the bizarre and sordid story of one Étienne Gouin, the doctor/sugar daddy, who seems to have screwed and commanded extraordinary sacrifice and loyalty from all the women around him.

Haircut

Got another haircut today, kinda hurried. My fault, got there 15 minutes late. Can't really tell if I like it, but it's shorter in places than I'm comfy with. But we'll see.

Still jetlagged. Watching too much (bad) TV.

TV - Montalbano: Gatto e Cardellino

Really predictable story, but always sooooo enjoyable. Many comic moments in this one, really fun to watch. A rash of odd mysterious old women muggings/shootings by a church turns out to be the setup work of the hubby who paid someone to off his wife. Some guy disappears and presumed dead, but Montalbano sniffs out the real story: Idiot doctor got some girl preggers, disappears with wife after providing for girl at church.

Wow, that Mimi's some hound dog!!

Book - Let It Bleed

Wooo. There so much disillusionment running thru the book. Another giant piece to add to that huge chip on his shoulder. It's a great sketch of the character's personality. Fascinating. Good read, except for the first few chapters, where it sounded more like he was jockeying for a screen play.

Plot: 2 kids jump to their deaths after a botched kidnap. A guy blows his own face up in front of a councillor. Connected? Of course Rebus thinks so, and goes on to wade thru a hell of a lot of acronyms to find out a somewhat lame interconnection of bribery and collusion among some very high level people.

Woohoo - Perfect Catsitter

OMG was I ever relieved and gratified at the outcome of our first ever catsitter! Most expensive of all the sitters I spoke with, but worth it!! She was perfect, following all the instructions, leaving a log blurb about the kitties every visit. The kitties all just loved her when I first vetted her, so I was pretty happy....but you never really know, right? Turned out perfect. Came home during her last visit, and got to chat with her for a while. Gave her one of the kitty houses and a bunch of other kitty beds no one's using. She teared up when she said goodbye to my furrkids, she'd really bonded with them. I was happy.

Because of the very loving sitter, the furrkids didn't look as shell-shocked as after the Spain trip. They just really hate being left alone, and need the companionship. Kayla LOVED her so much, I think she'd prefer her to me! Ginza loves anyone who pets and combs him, so he was happy. Mozart seemed happy to see me, and surprisingly Pixie seems to have missed me the most! Apparently she had no appetite, and low energy, while Kayla, the picky eater, ate like a pig around the sitter!!! Ginza reluctantly ate his prescription food, and had no FLUTD flareups.

The only sour note was my completely moronic friend whom I called while traveling to ask for a housecheck (she's 5 minutes away) so I could feel 100% that the sitter was doing her job. Not only did she not bother to leave me a message at all that she was too busy so I could call someone else to do it, she sounded insane when I finally called again near the end of my trip! The whole conversation was soooo bizarre - it got dark earlier, there was rain earlier, she didn't want to bump into the sitter for fear of harm for surprising her (?!), etc. Totally crazy person. *Shrug*. What're you gonna do.

Raining Today

Gee, nice to get back to rain and wind. On the other hand, cosy and dry in the house, and comforting with all the critters, so very thankful for that.

Book - New York Dead

Another silly, very entertaining airplane read. Funny and easy reading. Also the turning point for the main character.

Cop Stone is recovering from the shot knee, stumbles, stumbles onto a jumper, who disappears while riding in an ambulance. Desperate to close the case, the dept's ready to pin it on the gay lover, but Stone objects, so they put him out to pasture. Luckily he has a friend at a prestigious law firm who wants to hire him on as the go-to guy for oddball jobs, with the promise of practicing cases too. Thus he gets to dig into the bizarre disappearance and finds something he really hadn't bargained on.

Tokyo Slideshow

Some select shots from our trip, including the Hotel Royal Park Shiodome.



Too lazy to put up captions now, will do later.

Back From Tokyo

Here's the Tokyo slideshow. Bit jetlagged but doing well. Had a good time, but distracted by worrying about a new kittysitter, my period, my stress fever blister, my work, Hubby's work, bunches of other things. My moronic friend could've put my mind at ease, but noooo....completely idiotic. Bumped into sitter - she came late, and I got home early. Very nice speaking with her, and I shouldn't have had even a little worry, she was perfect. She'd even bonded with the kitties, and welled up saying goodbye to them. Couldn't have asked for a better sitter. Praises sung here.

Hubby's friend arranged a wonderful surprise with a fantastic champagne, bordeaux and strawberry white cake at our hotel. It was soooooo amazing, since Hubby didn't do anything for me.

Unexpected - Got my perfect meal the last day, before heading to the airport. Was a ramen shop my friend recommended, and I had a delicious piping hot bowl of noodles, happy and content, sitting with Hubby on stools along a long wooden counter.

Ginza's Better

Woohoo, caught it really early. Just a little blood, but no crystals, bacteria, etc. The couple days of Metacam & phenoxybenzamine helped his discomfort tremendously. But....the boy's caught on that he's being fed less tasty food than his siblings, so he won't eat it so much. Damned.

Ginza - FLUTD again

It seems like that time of year again. I failed in monitoring him properly thru the fall, when I knew damned well that he's susceptible around this time. I'm the worse Mommy in the world. I'm even more stressed out considering upcoming events.

Historic Stock Market Moment

Well, here ends the most fucked up week in market history. Well, barring the 80% loss of The Depression. Let's hope it doesn't get down much further. Although I'm wondering if the DJI'll get down to 7500.

Was holding up ok till yesterday, then I joined the Armageddon panic mode of the masses for a few hours until I slapped myself out of it. And chatting with hubby to get him apprised of the situation and our position. Cheerier mood now, looking for buys.

HH Tennis Today

Great session today! Got a really good workout, practicing shots. Instructor is pretty good. Like his instructions - clear, consistent, and constant. Too bad he's so much more expensive than the other guys. But think it's very worth it.

Aggggghhhhhh - DVD Conversion Sucks

OMFG, I hate this shit!! I've spent the last week since I've gotten the Zune trying to get a simple movie converted into something the stupid thing will recognize. Frigging hours and hours of conversions that result in errors. Finally got something going, while probably loading up all kinds of spyware shit on the computer in the meantime. FUCK!!!

More Tennis

Decided to try the local parks instruction on public courts, $36 a session, worth a try. The grandfatherly guy who came out can't really hit any more, and wasn't very good giving me any instructions at all. But he was sweet and reminded me of my grandpa, whom I adored. May keep him sporadically for a game here or there, but he's not good for improving my tennis.

The courts were mended in several places, cracked still, and we unfortunately had the lesson right when the school kids came out, and they really annoyed me. Otherwise, the location was ok.

Got New Zune!

Woohoo! Kinda bigger than I wanted, and the software sucks. It's such a hog, and really slows down my computer to the point I can't do anything else, and it's sooooo slow to respond. I'm also really pissed off that it won't recognize the movies I converted to AVI.

But it's got a really big beautiful screen, easy enough to use once I figure out how I want to lay things out. Lots of space, no problems at least with loading up the audio, pics, and podcasts so far.

But it's only day 1.

Tennis!

Decided to try out the tennis club near my place, didn't cost too much. Really wanted to sign up, but turns out the gym part of the price burnt down, and it's going to take up to a year to get fixed. Not good. It's also part of the apartments, and they all get to use it for free. Meh. Can't use the courts without membership, so back to square one without a place to play.

But...the instructor was really nice, and I liked his style, so I signed up for private sessions once a week. We'll see how it goes. What's nicest is how close it is, and plenty of parking.

What's nicest is just that I'm trying to get back into things. I'd forgotten how much fun it was, and how much I love it! Yay.

Book - Fatal Remedies

Donna Leon - some of her earlier stuff was good. This....this SUCKED. What the hell was the point of it? It couldn't figure out what it wanted to do, tried to get clever, and change stories midstream. It's practically like the late desperate writing of the TV series L&O and spawn.

Wifey gets arrested after second window-throwing vandalism. Somehow there was no other way to protest the travel agency 'sex tourism' packages. The owner of the agency gets killed. We suddenly get to a sordid story of repackaged expired and counterfeit meds.

Strike One on the Zune

Went to the Costco to pick one up, since online it said they were in stock. Crappy people. Not there. May have to go to Best Buy or something.

Back to Work!

First full active day back at work. Feeling extremely good. Unloaded 2 winners already, set up new spreadsheet to calculate amounts to cover losses, potential buys.

Baby Shower!

HOT day today. Lots of people there, not the conventional shower, thank god!! Men and women, no stupid games, just the present-opening. Lots and lots of pink, LMAO.

Still, sooooo glad for our friends. What a wonderful event for them. Good to see her so happy.

Decision - New MP3 Player

Agggh. I dislike shopping. Really low tolerance now too. But needed to get a new one after my iRiver croaked - right when I was lay-overing in Madrid too. But of course.

Didn't feel like spending my energy on my usually exhaustive research before buying, so just did a few hours and decided on the Zune. Hope it'll work well enough for my needs.

Transferring accounts and new brokerage

Got nervous about all the money market stuff, transferred a bunch into a new bank, and opened up a new trading account too. Got lots of new perks too, very happy.

TV - Rebus: Mortal Causes

Pretty good episode, except the thought of "rednecks visiting the homeland" is revolting, since I watch these shows to get something other than American fare. Still better than most of the crap on TV.

Wow, Cafferty was exactly like I pictured him. Freaking scary. The notable departure from the book on the way he leaves prison is ok too.

Book - The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

Dorothy Gilman book. Held up really well for 1966 or thereabouts! Very cute, fast read, but not the cotton candy crap. The character's a heck of a tough lady. Talk about shades of Gitmo here. Wow. Would definitely consider reading others in the series when I have time.

First in the series. Pollifax is getting up in years and wants to be useful and get a little excitement too, so she walks into the CIA trying to get hired. Luckily, she's in the right place, right time, when the agency head needed someone brand new who really would look like a tourist in Mexico. Tourist to pick up vital info smuggled on by another agent. Pollifax fits the bill. Gets captured with another spy, imprisoned, tortured, injured, and dumped in another country. Escapes with spy and another prisoner, floats around for a while seeking Yugoslavia before finally getting picked up by a friendly boat.

Book - The Art of Detection

What a freaking waste of time!

Laurie King. Usually don't mind her books; after all, tried both the Martinelli series (A Grave Talent), and Russell series (Beekeeper's Apprentice). Should have been good - a combo of contemporary setting and Holmes hook. But this book was boring as hell. It starts out engagingly enough for a couple chapters, then slogs and slogs and SLOGS thru the rest of the way in what should have been a seriously SHORT story.

Holmes fanatic gets killed and put in same place as a rediscovered Doyle 'manuscript'. Who did it?

TV - Maigret se Trompe

Wasn't paying attention much, so missed a bit. Still, didn't get this episode at all. Saved it, probably watch again.

TV - La Omicidi: L'Uomo dei Colombi

Interesting show. First episode. Hmmm, not warmed up to it yet, kinda not digging anyone in the cast.

Spoilers: Contained episodes within a continuing storyline - psycho who blames detective for his wife's death is stalking him and killing those around him. Psycho almost chokes the guy to death, then he steals his daughter. The contained story was a missing boy from an orphanage who turned out to be the son of a rich guy, and the half-sibling lawyer got rid of him cause he didn't want to share the inheritance.

Museo del Prado, Madrid

This was a fantastic museum! Visited 9/9, since it was closed on Mondays. Free evenings 6-8pm, couldn't take advantage. At least it was opened, despite the regional Madrid fiesta day of the Virgen de la Cabeza or some other crap holiday, which the idiot tourist chick neglected to mention to us the day before, when we were asking about bank hours. !?! Anyway.

Like I said, fantastic. It's the friendliest touring museum I've visited so far. Surprising considering the residents. Beats out the Louvre and the London museums (gasp). No, not for treasures. €6 admission. Great map (must ask for it from the desk) that has thumbnails of their masterpieces. Plotted the most efficient way thru the museum, and got one of the audio things for €3, which wasn't really necessary. Beautiful building, airy, elegant, but full of character. I could have spent months there, but we only spent about 4 hrs. We caught works from Fra Angelico's Annunciation to Goya's Periodo Negro (Hubby really loved). We missed Durer's pieces (gallery closed) and Sorolla's Children on the Beach.

Grabbed a quick bite in the cafeteria, which had a very wide (somewhat decent) selection of cold and hot food. LOL, I was unhappy with a Gran Via vendor selling canned Cokes for €1.8 (found a great side alley guy selling for €.80), when we had to buy them for €2.65 ea!!!! That, 1 tortilla and 1 empanada was €13.70. Even funnier was the couple in front of us who got so surprised at their bill of €50. Not very good gift shop, finally found decent mug & saucer for €24.

Can't describe how happy I was to visit it. I wish I could go back again and again.

Valencia trip slideshow. Madrid trip slideshow.

Book - Worst Fears Realized

Stuart Woods. Oh, this was a FANTASTIC airplane read!! Just like Fresh Disasters. The Barrington character is a hoot. No real thinking or concentration needed, silly as could be, the writing is fun, entertaining, but not stupid or florid. Easy pickup between the constant interruptions, boardings, announcements, deplaning, etc. Very excellent. Will remember to get his other books for other trips.

Guy starts killing women around Stone, looks awfully like a guy he put away a long time ago.

Madrid Slideshow

Some select shots from our trip, including the Hotel Catalonia Las Cortes we stayed in.

Valencia Slideshow

Some select pics from our trip, including shots of the Hotel Abba Acteon that we stayed in.

Back from Spain

Had a fantastic time in Valencia (slideshow), everyone's so warm and friendly, and the city is just gorgeous. Madrid (slideshow), typical big nasty city. Dirty, gritty, loud (pointless constant honking!), nasty people, and pretty much what you'd expect. Vibe like NYC, incredibly dirty air like LA. But, it has the Prado, which gives them a half-pass.

Still damned tired. Missed the kitties so much, looked liked they missed us too. Great to be home.

Asian Art Museum - Ming Dynasty Exhibit

After SFMOMA, dropped by here, hoping for some lunch too. But really crowded with a busload of visitors, so I passed.

Ming very nice survey. Good collection in the usual two special rooms downstairs. Bought the catalogue too this time.

Quick walk-thru the permanent collection to check out my favorite works. Was able to sneak a pic of my all time favorite piece before the scowling guard came over.

Shakyamuni as an ascetic, Nephrite, early 20th.

MLK 'Revelations' Memorial

Across the street from the SFMOMA, this is a nice memorial. The thundering water really brings MLK's words to life.

SFMOMA Pics

SFMOMA Atrium

Matta's Works at the SFMOMA

Yippee! Got my expedited passport, no probs, excited about Madrid. Had a leisurely coffee at the Starbucks before, then quick stop at the MOMA again, this time camera in hand. Apparently can take pics of the atrium and the permanent collection only. Still better than nothing. Would have liked a pic of Liu Wei's Two Drunk Painters, 1990, oil on canvas, (love that decaying looking skin) and Yang Shaobin's Untitled 1999, oil on linen (the giant red canvas with the cannibal baby men eating each other), And Zeng Fanzhi's Mask Series No 10, 1998, oil on canvas (2 creepy masked men grinning coyly at each other, one holding a rose).

Anyway, at least I got these two:




Chamboles les amoureuses
Roberto Matta, Chilean, 1911-2002.












Invasion of the Night, 1941, oil on canvas
Roberto Matta

Arm & Hammer Super Scoop

This has been the best litter so far, and we've tried almost all the litters. But it's fragrance free, which the kitties all love, the right texture - they love scratching in it, it clumps well, and best of all, it holds in most of the odor. After a week, it's only mildly smelly.

This bigger size I can usually find at Target, and on sale it's $10 for the 35 lb box.

Tidy Cats Scoop Litter

Right texture, right price, fragrance not too strong - $10.99 each for a 38 lb tub on sale at Target, with an additional $5 gift card when you buy two. Ended last week, bought a bunch.

Wrong strength - says multiple cats, but this stuff really doesn't hold the odor but releases it. Within a day the litter smelled really bad. By the end of the week, we're practically gasping. With today's changeout, added a lot of baking soda, hope that helps.

Purple Passiflora

After Business in the City

After a very smooth (and quick) appointment at the passport ofc, decided to go around the corner and visit the MOMA. Spent most of my time contemplating the Chamboles and Invasion. Fascinating, just fascinating. The modern Chinese art exhibit is fantastic. Dropped by the Frieda exhibit, which was just packed, so went straight back out after a quick look at The Two Friedas.

Hey, noticed something interesting! People snapping pics all over the place, in front of the "security", and no problems! Forgot to ask the staff, but while online, crossed my mind to find out what the deal was, and apparently it's become ok to take pics, no flash of course. Excellent. Will bring camera next time. Should take pic of bldg exterior too.

Flowers - Clerodendrum Ugandense 'Blue Butterfly'

aka Blue Butterfly Glorybower. I LOVE THIS PLANT. Love it, love it, love it. But it's tender, the other one's already died on me during the winter. Can't take cold temps below 40. Maybe even 50 will cause it to sulk, haven't really observed it.

The flowers are just amazing, unusual, and beautiful. Continuous bloom throughout growing season. The leaves are a gorgeous glossy green, well-formed bushy and very tidy. Deciduous. Have it in spot that gets full sun for half day.

Book - Little Indiscretions

By Carmen Posadas. Hmmm, don't know quite what to make of the book yet. Feeling as ambiguous as the book, but that's not necessarily bad. Fantastic to get a little taste of Madrid and Costa del Sol. Definitely a departure from the usual murder mystery, no authorities or anything else like that involved.

Nestor, the caterer, is found dead in a walk-in freezer. The story weaves around all the guests in the house at the time, all assembled for a party. They all want Nestor gone, for different reasons. Their lives are all intertwined in ways that they don't know about, except for Nestor, who knows everything about everybody.

Yippee - More ScratchScrolls!

Dropped by Target again to pick up couple other things, and wandered by the kitty aisle again (of course). And, they had re-stocked the waves! Bought all 3. $22.79 ea. Have them all around the house. 2 are side by side, and guess what. All the new ones ignored except for the 1st one. Of course. I knew it.

Adding Tabs for Labels

While doing a quick surf thru other people's blogs for new features, stumbled onto a Malaysian woman's that had these cool tabs, and wow!, I want that too! So, after some searching and tweaking - Woohoo! I feel accomplished! I love my new tabs. Took me a while to figure things out, seeing as I'm not very computer savvy. Most of my info came from Hoctro's Place, which was a bit involved and confused me. But combined with the info from Blogger for Dummies, success!! Not perfect, will tweak the format later, but HEY!, I have tabs at the top of the page. I'm so happy.

Finished Drip Irrigation on Deck

YES!!!!! All done, everything looks good to go. Testing right now. 30 mins.

No leaks, everything good. Only problem is that the water drips only over the spot it covers and drains right down thru the pots without wetting any of the surrounding areas. Must plug the holes, I think. But even this is excellent for what I need.

Now front yard.

TV - Montalbano: La Gita a Tindari

Another great, funny acting job by Montalbano that had many funny moments. First one Hubby's seen, and he thought it was really well-done, much better than most of the US TV drivel. He's reading The Shape of Water now. That's a huge compliment, the man's not a big mystery reader.

Coincidentally have just gotten to this book now, and it'll be very interesting to see how it's similar/diverges from the TV version.

Plot: Guy gets shot outside his apt building. Older couple disappears, also from the same building. Obviously related. Thru the maze of clues, an audience and phone call from the local mafiosi capo, a horrifying trade in live body parts is uncovered.

Book - Voice of the Violin

Very good book. Well-thought out plot, story bit pedestrian but very tiny flaw. Entertaining read, just laugh-out-loud funny and so sad in places.

Woman is suffocated in her own home. Evidence of consensual sexual activity, and she's naked. Clothes nowhere to be found. Extremely odd. And how does a famous maestro recluse factor into it?

Office Chair Destroyed

Sigh. Added to the never-ending list of things the kitties have destroyed is my office chair. Ever since Pixie started using it as her personal scratch pad a year ago, it was history. This is the condition it is in today.

Kitties Hate MeowMix Wholesome Goodness

BWAHAHAHA. So much for getting McD's junk food treats for the kitties. Thought that they'd like the fast food - yeah, yeah, it states 'wholesome goodness' complete with pictures of vegetables and some lie that it's 'healthy'. Please. Get real. IT'S MEOW MIX. HAHAHA. Doesn't matter, kitties hated both flavors introduced so far. Even Chublet, aka Pixie, wouldn't touch it. Now THAT'S saying volumes.

Movie - Fifth Element

You know, if it's Friday night, you're exhausted from the week, you have a bottle of wine, and it's in 1080i HD, it's very entertaining! Really. We couldn't stand this POS first time around. Bad acting, bad everything. But, if you're susceptible, it's not that bad.

Scary bad evil in the form of a burning black planet threatening universe. Some aliens already prepared for this 300 years ago, and come to save the day, only they get blown up. A cell remains from the wreckage, they regenerate a whole human from it, turns out to be the 'perfect being' that will save the universe. In the form of an orange-haired, almost naked young girl Milla Jovovich. Bruce Willis comes to save the day, help get the 4 stones in the right formation with the chick that will vanquish the evil. Of course love saves the day and she blasts the evil thing.

Irrigation Project Cont'd

Excellent. Got another 15 done. Don't know if the plants will get enough water, though. See it just dripping quick out of the pots, so there's not enough to the roots. But it'll do for a patch.

Can't Find More ScratchScrolls!

Darned, checked the PetsMart and Targets (where I bought the 1st one) and no more. None online either. Even the SmartyKat company site doesn't list it. Discontinued? Crud! Kitties all like it, and take turns when they're polite - not very often. Squabbles ensuing while Pixie and Mozart are trying to lay ultimate claim to it.

Update.

Conair Infiniti Straightener

I LOVE this thing!! I have extremely coarse, frizzy hair, and could never really get it under control except with some serious blowdrying endeavors. Which I hate. So decided to try the Conair Infiniti a year ago, and bingo! Success! In less than 10 mins, the mess looks shiny and straight.

But, I'd like the ends somewhat curled, and have been experimenting with the curling iron, and just bought the smaller one on the advice of my stylist, who says it's gives more control. 1 try on it, and am liking it. I can get a subtle wave on the ends, unless I keep it in place too long, then I get a 90 degree kink instead, LOL.

The big iron is exactly like this one, only wider, obviously. Great price, and I got both on sale. From Target. Front & side views of the new, small one.




Controls on the side is the only minor irritant, if I don't pay attention, I can shut it off. The stainless part gets freaking hot too. Both minor flaws for something that makes doing my hair sooo easy!

Movie - Elizabeth: The Golden Age

This sucked eggs. Sucked eggs BIG. What a POS!!!

I loved the first Elizabeth. As close to perfect as a movie can get. One of my top 10. Poor Cate Blanchett, she's a wonderfully talented actress who was ROBBED of the Oscar to that hack (despite her, I loved Shakespeare in Love). I can understand her signing on to EII, but shit, this was so bad. The guy was determined to be artsy, with all the views thru many different translucent things - doors, windows, cups, mirrors, blah, blah, tons of pointless panning, sweeping, majestic shots. Enough already! Added nothing to the movie; even worse, dragged down the pace and made it tedious. Poorly edited, the characters' lines all sounded chopped, like they were responding to someone else, or no dialogue at all.

Watched this while working out, and lemme tell ya, it was a big incentive to go faster so I could log my target distance quicker and stop watching the movie. Unfortunately it didn't work, I finished the movie while stretching.

What's hilarious are the reviewers I read that have conniptions about the (non)-accuracy of movies like this, based on historical figures. Are they kidding?!? They're movies!! Never professed to be "accurate" history, it's "based on a true story".

Movie - Nuns on the Run

This is freaking hilarious! Hadn't seen it again since it first came out. Was a free on-demand selection, so why the heck not. I liked it much more than the American version, but memory may not serve properly, so at some point I'll have to see it again to compare.

Two hoods, thinking of going straight, gets incentive not to when their friend who's thinking the same ends up dead. But they get a chance to go straight (and rich) when they're in the midst of a robbery of the local Chinese triad. They get trapped and hide out in a nunnery with 2 cases of cash. They later get trapped in hospital, where they lose a case, which the nuns find. A girl that one of them's sweet on helps them escape (good god, those nurses' uniforms! LMAO!), they're on a plane off to Brazil - she in first class, they as stewardesses.

Beyond WiiFit

Getting bored with the games already after 2 weeks. No new games on sale yet, hope they come out soon. Still really enjoy all the modules, getting pretty good at most.

Really good thing: I'm remembering some of the yoga and strength poses, and do them outside of the Wii. Really fantastic thing: the only game that really elevates heart rate is the jogging in place. After playing it, I want more push on the rate, so I'm motivated to continue with a real workout. That's an excellent aftereffect!

Book - The Snack Thief

Great book, but a wee bit confusing. Writing is absolutely delightful. A dream. One flaw is that it was so convoluted that he had to use the literary device of explaining the entire situation to the commissioner (us). That's weak. But I really didn't care, can be overlooked.

A Tunisian gets killed in a boat off international waters. Dispute over what happened and where. Some guy gets stabbed in elevator. Seemingly unrelated. Montalbano puts it together, rescuing a young boy along the way, whom Livia completely loses her heart for.

TV - Inspector Lynley: Limbo

Hmmm, was just ok. Unfortunately figured out the killer the minute he appeared onscreen. That's really bad. Also, Havers was missing for the entire 1st half. That's annoying. I love Havers. I want her on screen. Oh well, guess it's a good thing the series is ended. Last one showing here on Sunday. Still sad to see something beloved end. That makes 2 of my favorite series gone, with no new British mysteries to replace them. I am bereft.

Kid goes missing. Body found 12 yrs later. Lynley, after getting kid's sister from Rome for the funeral, gets it on with her at his place. She's found dead after "falling" down his balcony. Lynley's a suspect. Old nanny/current nurse gets killed. It's the lawyer/Lynley's old partner's kid.

Lunch with MA

After book club, went down the street to her favorite family-run Mexican. Got the shredded beef enchilada and pork tamale. Ok food. Not sure I'd repeat in the near future, though.

Very nice chatting with her, she's very entertaining, tons of funny stories.

Book Club - Beekeeper's Apprentice

Ok discussion today. Book not bad. Well-written, well-plotted, and the villian was a surprise, despite all the clues well scattered throughout the story. Big Holmes fan, and this was a wonderful portrayal that really brought him alive in an authentic manner. I could practically see him come to life. Wonderful. Only gripe I had was the whole soft-hearted side that presumably kicked in in his old age? I don't buy that part.

The girl, not so much. Didn't care for her, and she never grew on me. Parts of the characters' actions made no sense, and Britain never really comes alive or feels authentic. It's like the author didn't know diddly about London or the English, but was describing sets or something. Confusing.

Plot: Told from the point of view of a girl who bumps into Holmes at age fifteen, and is a match for his ferocious wit and deductive powers. He starts to apprentice her, and end up partners. Series of small cases, then their big case, when someone seems hell-bent on killing one or all of those closest to Holmes.

Movie - Love Actually

I know, I know. Sappy, romantic, uber-chick flick. Cliche central, not a shred of reality in it. But I loved this movie. I've stopped at it every time it's rerun on TV. Caught the last hour of a rerun today. What an adorably cute movie! Colin Firth is hot, and I liked ALL the actors in this ensemble cast, which is downright rare.

New Toy - ScratchScroll, aka The Wave

Dropped by Target for litter, and of course, if there's a new toy, I'll buy it. Mozart seems to enjoy it, and Pixie's now enjoying the toy underneath. Yippee!

Usually they care nothing for the toys, but go after the bag/box/container the toys came in instead. LOL.





MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woohoo - Mobile Works Again

Whew. Dodged a bullet. Seems to be working again. Right away I typed down all my numbers.

But now I'm uneasy about the damned phone, since I don't know what happened. Will it just die on me for no reason again? Crappity crap crap. Crap!

TV - Maigret Se Défend

Maigret answers a late night phone call at his home, goes out to help the caller, and ends up getting accused of raping a young girl who happens to be the daughter of a VIP. He goes after a disabled crook and his wifey whom he's had 24/7 surveillance on, and is convinced are behind the framejob. Turns out it's the dentist across the street who's doing illegal abortions and thought the cops were investigating him, so he figured getting Maigret out of the way would derail it.

Giant plot hole - the dentist made no sense at all. Why would removing Maigret stop the investigation? Anyway, still an entertaining show.

Shit - Mobile on Blink

The white screen of death happening right now. Was chatting with sis while gardening outside, and afterwards it went on the blink. Dunno if it'll recover. Dunno what happened either, no droppage, no immersion, nothing. Turned it off anyway, took out the battery anyway, crossing fingers. Not logical, I know, but hoping anyhow. Can't find the damned warranty written anywhere.

Bad thought - what if it dies completely? Only place my #s are stored is the mobile. Double shit!

TV - Family Jewels II

Yup, watched several more of these episodes. Still somewhat entertaining, but starting to tire of it (thankfully). That Nick is really adorable and cute. Both kids seem like such regular, normal beings, which really seems to reflect well on Simmon's & Tweed's parenting skills, whatever the opinion may be about them. That plastic surgery's gotten hideous scary on both sisters.

Wii Fit - Yoga circuit

Finally got up the willpower to complete a whole circuit of the yoga games, and I must say, I felt very accomplished. Took the time to carefully pose properly, instead of concentrating on scoring high. Completed most of the strength games too, except for the 4 hardest last row. Feeling pretty good.

Today's Catnip - Mozart's Head on Our Pillows

Adorable, adorable, adorable. Did I mention adorable? Mozart this morning wakes me up at 5am by sticking his nose into my mouth, freaking me out. Then he settles in and lies down with just his head on my pillow, since there was space after I jerked my head back from my rude awakening. Then he took a turn on Hubby's pillow. Always has to wake us up to let us know he's sleeping with us, gets knudgies, then settles in. Always sleeps between us. Always has to be touching both of us. ADORABLE. Doesn't curl up entire body on pillow like other kitties, just his little head. Just like a human. OMG. ADORABLE.

When I saw him laying his head on the pillow, the excruciatingly sad thought crossed my mind that he's such a special one-of-a kind kitty and we will never have another kitty like him. Ever. Some of it was that he was an only kitten when we adopted him, so he imprinted like a human. But some of it's just this special orange cat. So special. Gonna go hug the stuffing out of him now.

Movie - The Last Emperor

So excited to see it when this first came out in the theater. Aired tonight on PBS. Ok movie, dulled somewhat over time, and the directorial and script deficiencies are more glaring. But still glad it was made, and exposed more people to a piece of Chinese culture, however cutesy this version made it.

A few other things caught my attention this time around, and I wiki'd the last emperor to get more accurate info on him. Interesting.

Also, I got curious about the eunuchs. I had a vague idea that "it" was chopped off. But what exactly was "it"? So googled it, and found out some unsavory things. Anyway, wandered into an area that is better left unwritten. All I have to say is, OMFG!!!!!!!

Wii Fit - Soccer Balance

HAHAHA!!! Can't believe I'm so proud of getting a perfect score in the soccer balance game. LMAO. Was really easy to do, though, so not like I really did anything special. How silly, but I don't care.

Hubby bitches about the game, blah, blah, "that goes against every instinct on how to really head the ball", blah, blah. Keep reminding him it's a balance game, not REAL soccer, just a visual cue, etc. Still bitching.

Destinos - Abridged

Woohoo woohoo!!!! All done editing all the silences, unnecessary pieces and repetitions out of the episodes!!!! Very adept at Audacity.

Getting a really good handle on the accents, according to Hubby. Can't wait to practice it for real.

TV - Foyle's War: All Clear

How sad it was to play this episode!!! I waited a while before watching it, so I could prolong the illusion that the series was still going on (yeah, yeah, I know it aired a year ago in the UK). This episode did not disappoint. It was the top 5 best series ender I've ever seen. What a dignified, still, poignant but un-sappy last show. What splendid (and usual) psychological murder-solving. It was just so sad and so perfect to see the DCS quietly put on his coat and hat and exit. Perfect.

Plot: Foyle investigates the death of a doctor who was part of the party committee celebrating the end of the war. Turns out it's the hotel magnate guy who'd gotten someone else to sub for him in the medical exam so he could weasel out of serving in the war. Very interesting subplots, including a cover-up of a major exercise fuck-up that resulted in hundreds of soldier deaths.

Drip Irrigation

Finally driven to look for a watering substitute, and attacked the HD irrigation section. Found some simple timers and using the 1/4" tubing. Think this'll do. Excellent.

These damned little bubblers are a bitch to stick into the tubes, and I'm not totally confident that they won't loosen up and leak. But we'll see.

Wii Fit - Week 1

Yup, the continual prompts annoy. Always having to hold the remote is annoying. But this is the cutest thing still! Enjoy the aerobics and balance games the most. Hubby likes the yoga and strength games more. Disappointing that it's so easy to unlock everything, I've already got everything without much effort or time. Oh well.

Must get new games for when we get bored with these.

Book - No Reservations

Pretty picture book covering the last 3 years of his travels on the show. Not much writing in this one at all, but he's taken some effort to add interesting little blurbs about most of the pics. Ok flipping thru it, not as engrossing as his previous stuff.

Book - The Terracotta Dog

GREAT book! What a sad story, but told with a good dose of humor, and not bogged down with moribund sentimentality. OMG, I laughed aloud several times. Acerbic wit flows from the pages, and I LOVE the sparse writing style. Brief, pointed but extremely evocative.

Movie - The Dark Knight

Not a bad movie to finish up the free tickets on. Ok movie, didn't suck. Storyline good, but ran too long. Hubby really liked it.

Too bad about the Joker character, he was a very good actor. His performance here was excellent, and he did portray a truly creepy dark villian.

I swear I'd already posted on this!! I even remember writing a relatively ok one, maybe I deleted it by mistake? Just great, senility.

Help - Lunch Question

Completely pointless blurbling until I can figure out the answer to that eternal question - what's for lunch? Approaching critical point here, starving.

Ok, ok, fine, it's 2 freaking hours later now. Dammit, crap, Chipotle it is. Again.

Wii Fit!!!

Woohoo! After calling all the stores in my area for months, I finally scored one today! Ran home and tried it out right away. LOVE this thing, it's cuter than words. Had the most fun with the aerobics and balance games. Really like the graph tracking weight, and the calendar tracking workouts. Can add my workouts in a "log", but not sure that it gets any points or whatever else that the Wii games does.

Not a big yoga fan, and the nonexistent graphics makes it not very appealing to me. It's the only section with no color and no decor on the "gym" walls. I'm sure it was meant to be "restful" and "zen-like" but it was just colorless and boring.

Can see the menu crap getting really annoying after a while, having to wade thru the same crap over and over when using this every day. Should have written something into the software to bypass after a certain amount of usage - I mean, Mii info gets stored, why not something like that?

TV - Foyle's War: Broken Souls

This is truly great TV. Truly. Love this series, and coming to the 2nd of the last episode ever. Wonderfully written, shot, costumed and acted, this is a tour de force. Everyone is fantastic, but I especially love Michael Kitchen. What an incredible actor!

This was such a sad episode. You knew the doc was guilty, but you were wishing so badly that it wasn't him. The look on Foyle's face at the cafe at the end just says it all.

Plot: Doctor at the psych hospital gets killed, and the doctor playing chess with Foyle is the main suspect. Turns out it's the head doc, who didn't want his affair with a patient's wife uncovered, and wanted his love letter back from the blackmailer. Also, a German POW gets killed while escaping from the camp. He'd been day working at a woman's farm, but the husband had returned, and was angry and jealous. Turns out it was the chess doctor, in a susceptible frame of mind, in a completely random encounter.

Salon Haircut

Took a chance, nicer, upscale-ier place. Went in and got someone available for a walk-in. Girl had only been doing hair for 2 years, so little nervous, but she did a great job. The ends are perfect, and cut is expert. Only gripe is that there could have been more layering, it has somewhat of a mullet feel - beautiful layering to my chin, then a straight dropoff to the ends. We'll see.

Salon over by the Hacienda movie theater.

Destinos - Editing

Started the long process of editing out all the long silences, repetitions, etc from the audio on Audacity. Very good exercise too.

Book - The Shape of Water

Excellent book! Really fun and easy to read, quick, acerbic wit and fun tongue-in-cheek snappy lines. Translation little off, I could tell in places where the translation was word-for-word, and should have been given a different English phrase altogether, but minor quibbles - not enough to distract from the overall work.

Really liking the Montalbano character.

Drinks with Andy and Evelyn

Continuing our efforts to keep touch with the neighbors, invited Frank's brother and his wife over. It was somewhat sad, feeling Frank's absence, but they're holding up well, and getting a lot of support from his close friends in taking care of his business and affairs. Good people with good hearts. Not much in common, but had a good time chatting about general stuff.

Playing Tourist Over Wknd

Little bro & girlfriend up for concert & sightseeing. Not sure about these people. The minute they got to our house Fri afternoon, they were fighting outside on my sidewalk. Great sign of things to come this wknd, I wondered.

Anyway, staved off any time they may have had for mischief by exhausting them running all over the place w/ the obligatory sights - GG Bridge, Pier 39 & the 3 remaining seals, Chinatown, Union Sq, surroundings & Cheesecake Fac, North Beach, Twin Peaks (fog), MLK memorial. These kids today - they actually were shruggy & chuckling that they didn't read !? LMAO - dragged them to CityLights anyway and TWO museums MOMA (they were interested in the Frieda exhibit - kinda) and Asian (Ming dynasty). Nothing better than forcing some culture down their throats - revenge. Excellent.

Book - A Taste For Death

Meh. Just Ok. Needlessly repetitive, which didn't build any interesting psychological points or anticipation. But overall, still a decent read. Two bodies with their throats slashed are found in a church, and because of the prominence of one of them, Dalgliesh is called in.

Woohoo! Now I can start on Camilleri's books!

Book - A Cook's Tour

Really fun, entertaining. Excellent read.

Book - The Nasty Bits

Loved all the articles in the collection - blowhard crap and all. It's really interesting to track his moods of the moment, and it's nice to have a little blurb commentary at the end of the book that provides extra insight into his state of mind at the time. He obviously didn't put as much thought into some of the pieces, as I'm sure he was just cranking out something for some of the mag requests he got. Writing not so good sometimes.

I didn't get some of the moronic reviews on Amazon about the book being disjointed, unconnected, blah, blah. Did they not fucking read? It clearly states IN THE TITLE that it's a collection. He explains some more in the beginning too. Not only that, he adds little follow-up blurbs to the articles at the end. So WTF? LOL. Anyway, I was extremely entertained.

TV - Family Jewels, Oh The Shame

So...there was a marathon, and....ahem....I DVRd it, and....ummm.....I watched it. I admit it. Took me a bit to even decide to write this entry, despite the fact no-one (hopefully) reads my blog. LOL. I was actually entertained by this show. They're very funny, not outright moronic, and I really liked the kids.

Couple More From Orchid Barn

Dropped by McClellan but didn't see anything I really wanted. But can't go away empty-handed, right? So walked on down 2 doors to the Orchid Barn, very nice family-owned place, and bought - only 2! Of course, it could be because I was being reasonable, or that Hubby was there. LOL.

Both are NoIDs, but don't care.

From Blooming Orchids!

From Blooming Orchids!

SFMOMA - Frieda Exhibit

Not my area, nor my preference, but a nice exhibit. Definitely worth a visit. Very packed, which was wonderful to see, on one hand, but on the other hand, annoying as hell trying to appreciate artwork while negotiating the crowds. Will return during the week.

The exhibit was a comprehensive representation of her overall work. There were over 40 pieces, I think, along with numerous photos, a separate section on her stay in SF, and even a short home video. Many, many self-portraits - understandable, considering her setbacks. The Mexicano-pueblo indigenous style that she was so fiercely proud of is not as appealing to me as original Aztecan-Mayan archaeological works, which I appreciate. But both Hubby and I can appreciate the emotions that's practically flung on the canvas. Raw expressiveness is dramatically evident in her depictions of her miscarriage and her brace, but the one that left the most impression on us was "Two Friedas", which was also a large scale painting.

Prompted us to rent the movie, which was just ok.

Smoothies at Ron's

What a nice guy. Invited over for a chat after my work was over (market close) and to look at his new landscaping. Luci's getting interested in orchids, and they'd bought a bunch while vacationing in Hawaii, so they were interested in checking out my collection. Glad I've cleaned everything up and repotted stuff, so it'll be nice to show it off.

TV - Inspector Lewis

Trying REALLY really hard to like this. The plots are ok. But not working for me in general. Lewis just can't drive a show. Buuuummmer!! I don't see the same kind of chemistry with this new duo.

The sidekick doesn't look so much sullen as tired, bored of being there and just all around unremarkable. He's the educated one, a la Morse?, and it would have been nice to present the kid as Morse-as-a-young-man thing. If that's what they're trying to do, they're failing miserably. There's none of Morse's fire in him, none of that puzzle-solving desire that drove him, how he's curious about the work even though he's a reluctant copper. Colin Dexter still made his cameos in both shows I saw, so he must still be advising, so???

Disappointing.

Today's Catnip - Pixie Rolls Off

Kitties that are not so graceful. Pixie sleeping on the sofa back next to me, and accidentally rolled off. Luckily onto the sofa seat side and not the floor. She was just adorable - she looked confused, gave a little meow?, thought about it a bit more, then got back on the sofa back, gave a defiant little meow, and there she is, napping away again. LOL.

And, while writing all this, Kayla is very comfortably stretched out on my lap.

Frank's Memorial

A very nice service and wake for him this afternoon. The Catholic service was thankfully cut short, and while against my preferences, was glad to put in an appearance out of respect for his family, all of whom are so nice and warm. What a big loss, he was such a sweet man.

My friend P's cousin had a stillborn last week, and the memorial was Wed. How awful. Sadness all around.

Book - Kitchen Confidential

What an absolutely fun and hilarious read! This guy is a riot, like his writing style a lot. Shoot, wish I'd gotten his other books ready to keep reading, I feel strangely bereft now I've finished the book, and need more of his stories immediately!

Remember seeing him on a TV program, he was in Greece somewhere, and he was just unbelievably freaking hilarious. Will go look up his reruns.

Book Club - Where Are The Children?

Ok meeting, but I'm getting tired of the continual talk that veers to mental illness, pedophilia, and psychopaths. If they don't widen their discussions, I'll have to drop out.

I really dislike Mary Higgins Clark, but I'm a good sport, so I read it anyway. The story was ok, and the kind of crime little discussed at the time it was written. But the overall plot was weak, there was no character development for the lunatic stalker, and I wanted to punch the "heroine" myself. Forget about figuring out what the hubby was. She couldn't figure out why she was out like a light every night, and always felt logy and was always "so tired"? I'd know my body enough to know something was funky. And the overblown prose and overwrought drama really irritates me no end.

Sad Night

Firefighters and cops and lights, so went out up the street to find out what happened. Apparently Frank passed last night, and his friends just found him. How very sad, he seemed such a nice guy, we never really got to know him. Kept meaning to invite him over, too late now.

Euro Soccer Party

Hubby got a couple guys together to watch the game. Fun, was outside chatting with a happily preggers L while they were whopping it up. Made too much food and snacks as usual. LOL.

Movie - Wall-E

What a cute little movie, good for the free tiks! The little kids were just sobbing away at the end.

Was going to see the Panda, but the tik guy suggested Wall-E instead, and said there wasn't crowded. Very surprised, expected giant crowd for the opening.

Last Cym of the Season

One of my Tistroncobb 'Peaches' is blooming, one unopened bud left. Beautiful color and form.

From Blooming Orchids!

Lunch w/ MA

Fun lunch, tasty Japanese at my favorite little restaurant. MA is just hilarious and so entertaining! Cats the main topic, it's really nice to know someone else who talks just as much about their furrkids.

TV - Kidnapped

Wow, this was a really good psychological serial. Very well done, well shot, and well acted. There was a stellar front cast. The whole thing was just fantastic for a TV show. We were very entertained.

Too bad it never took off. I can understand why, though. Downfall with continued serials instead of self-contained episodes. We caught the 2nd episode on TV first, and kept feeling like we missed a lot, so saw the 1st one when we got it on DVD. It really cleared up a whole bunch of things for us. There was no way to really access it from the middle, you'd always feel like you missed a lot.

Books I Gave Up On

And that's saying a lot. Until today, I've usually finished books. The only continuing book on my slate is Bill Clinton's My Life which feels like it's actually going to take my lifetime to read. Boring, but not bad, writing. Anyway, the first ever books I'm throwing in the towel on:

Three Cups of Tea - Shitty grating writing, got better enjoyment actually making myself three cups of tea.

Slavery by Another Name - I was so interested in the topic, what a disappointing read. Have the names of a couple older books on the same topic that I'll explore later, hopefully they're written better.

Little Work Get-together

Oh my fucking god, it was so goddamned scorching hot yesterday. Today's just as pleasant as pie. But of course. Since we needed to work outside. Complaining aside, got a lot of cleaning done on Sat before the little get-together. Woohoo! Got a bunch of weeding done, swept and organized the deck, and scrubbed out the patio furniture.

Small party, only 7 people invited, 6 showed. The last one (recept/assistant?) was a rude-ass, texting Hubby about bringing a guest, then not showing. Thank god dinner kept warm but didn't dry out. Not a good impression for your highest-up, even if you're planning to leave the company in a few months. Anyway, I'm very glad she didn't come, after learning about her cat.

Everything went well, but I'm a perfectionist and got annoyed with forgetting little things. But excellent for not having held a party for a couple years. Just like riding a bike.

Finishing the Bathroom

YAY. Finally started putting the last touches on the bathroom - after 2 yrs. TSP'd everything, got the ceiling brushed up, put another coat on the window trim. Think I'll just replace the vanity, the gloss paint didn't take. Got a couple hand towels that didn't work, but I knew that already, I just really liked the design. Darned.

Feeling tons better after talking with A.

Movie - Indiana Jones & Crystal Skull

Ok movie, I guess, Hubby said he was entertained. But then, he's a big fan of the Indy movies, me not so much. I found myself wondering when it was ending, and kept looking at my watch. Didn't entertain me enough, or I was distracted. Sets were very nice though, especially the ones at the end were almost spectacular. The ridiculous ending even sat ok, accepted at face value. Not feeling the sidekick son, though.

Indy holds up pretty good and to prove it, stripped down to show the audience. Definitely something to be proud of, he looks fantastic. Love Blanchett despite the horrible accent. Mark of her good acting that she managed to pull off the ridiculous villain without looking ridiculous, just good campy. That's talent. Could easily have descended into crap.

Geez, it's sad when these were free tiks and we couldn't find anything we were interested in seeing, and finally had to *settle* for this movie.

TV - Montalbano: La Forma Dell'acqua

Very good show, pretty good story, can't wait to read the book. Sly, funny, sharp and sardonic dialogue. Sexy, sexy man.

TV - Maigret: Cécile est morte

Finally, a very good episode! Great tight story. Good twists but not contrived, and Dandurand was just perfect.

Catt Repotting Completed!!

Yippee!! DONE! Can't believe it. All that dipping, scrubbing, root wrestling. Done. Done. Done. Every single orchid on the two carts. Yippee, yippee! I'm so tired, and have a headache from smelling the malathion. Shaved several years off my life. Shit, that poisonous crap stinks to high heaven. Poison of last resort. 2 more applications should do it.

Ahhh, now to sit, relax, enjoy an iced coffee and Maigret & Montalbano.

Book - The Black Tower

Why did this book seem as interminable as the poor terminal patients? Not sure, but not going to bother trying to analyze it now. Overall, the plot was good, the ending satisfying, but the journey was not fun. Enjoyed the stark, harsh scenery, wished the characters were as interesting.

Dalgliesh is having a second lease on life after having been mistakenly diagnosed with a fatal disease. As he reviews his life and contemplates his options, murder happens.

Ripped off from Amazon.co.uk:
The Peverell Press, a two-hundred-year-old publishing firm housed in a dramatic mock-Venetian palace on the Thames, is certainly ripe for change. But the proposals of its ruthlessly ambitious new managing director, Gerard Etienne, have made him dangerous enemies - a discarded mistress, a neglected and humiliated author, and rebellious colleagues and staff. When Gerard's body is discovered bizarrely desecrated, there is no shortage of suspects and Dalgliesh and his team are confronted with a puzzle of extraordinary complexity and a murderer who is prepared to strike again.

Phal Yu Pin Acacia x violacea #2

McClellan buy. None of the buds had opened on either one of the crosses, so was a bit nervous about it, but any fragrant phals I snap up. The first one wasn't as attractive, petals/sepals more elongated and don't overlap. This one has very nice form, and a beautiful fragrance. Small compact plant.

From Blooming Orchids!

Repotting - Side Benefit

So, from my little Clip (love it!), I've been listening to hours and hours of French and Spanish lessons while doing all the repotting. Feeling doubly productive. LOL.

Discovered I prefer the Spanish audio only, no video, but prefer watching the French videos, not just audio. Prof. Capretz is freaking fantastic, hilarious and entertaining, and I don't get tired of watching him.

Catts Repotting - Near the End

Excellent. Got 6 more done today, man, slow going, huge plants. Crap, several were already split. I didn't want extras. Not cool at this time for one plant to suddenly become 4. Trying to prune my collection so I can get more orchids, not have the existing plants explode in number, especially ones I don't really care for. Don't go to the society anymore, so nowhere to sell them now. Meh, things could be worse. Anyway, only 4 more left. LOL, at least for the catts. Woohoo, was able to ID most of the faded tags, except for 1, narrowed down to 2 possibilities. Score for keeping good notes!

Don't EVEN want to think about the cym repottings, OMG, the time I had to take on every one. Each one felt like a wrestling match too. All 44 need repotting, and I have a nasty feeling that each one's going to split. Just what I need, instant doubling of the cyms. Well, at least they're very low maintenance in general.

Will avoid that as long as possible, will tackle the phals next. Those are pretty easy.

Pretty hot today, but not as scorching as anticipated. Whew.

Catt Repotting Almost Done

Woohoo! Another 7 done, I'll try to finish them up tomorrow. 10 more to go. Crap, out of charcoal. Really don't want to leave the house tomorrow, promises to be another scorching day. Have to workout on the machine, can't go running.

Couple helicopters circling around today, all kinds of sirens going. When I called the station, they said a fire. A wee bit too close for comfort, and it would be blowing up the canyon our way. Made me really nervous, got all the critters' carriers and collars out, and impt docs ready. Got put out in an hour or so, whew. The news showed that by Thurs heat'll top the charts.

Mario Wii came today too. Hmmm, not as entertaining as I expected. But maybe after I get the hang of it.

More Catt Repotting

Woohoo!!! 14 more catts done today. Very very tired but happy. Pretty hot today.

Got the replacement thermometers from Technika today. Excellent. Great price, reasonable shipping, quick receipt. Works for me.

Kayla on my lap, slapping that tail, big eyes, pissed I'm writing on the computer and not focusing all attention on her. LOL.

Repotting Weekend

Very productive!! Got 17 catts repotted over the weekend, found mealybug/scale infestations on several of them, which slowed down the pace. Scrubbing, dipping, scrubbing and dipping again. Only 140 more to go. Just a couple splits (prefer to keep them to specimen size if possible).

Bracing ourselves for a very hot week.