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.
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....
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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'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 (?!?!!!)
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.
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.
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!!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Some select shots from our trip, including the Hotel Royal Park Shiodome.
Too lazy to put up captions now, will do later.
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.
