I'm back, I promise!

KT and I landed in Birmingham at ~4pm on Saturday but didn't leave until far after that and I'm sure you can guess why...no luggage.

Yesterday I was a slug, but I managed to read a big chunk out of the G.R.R. Martin book I've been working on for months. I'm not finished yet but it's on the horizon. I won't get too much relief as A Feast For Crows is right after that so I'm sure it will be another 800-900 pages. Don't get me wrong, I LOVELOVELOVE this series, but it is work!

Today, I've barely had a moment to collect my thoughts. How does so much crap accumulate at work while you're gone? The email alone was enough to make me want to head back home :(

All this to say, I'll have a complete rundown of my mini-week in Minneapolis (hardy har) but I'll have to wait til I'm at home. It will not be accomplished on a 15 minute break :)

afternoon ya'll!
htw

current conditions....

....in Minneapolis right now, 34ºF with a windchill of 22ºF, cloudy with snow showers expected Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I haven't seen snow that completely covered the ground in 15 years so this should be a treat.

Tomorrow's weather in Chicago, where we will have a short layover before continuing on to Minneapolis, will be 32ºF with showers and it will be windy....greeeeaaaat. Just for the morbid among us...

easter sunday

What a fun day! I got up and exercised, 30 min Walk Away the Pounds video, 30 minutes on the recumbant bike and 30 minutes of strength training. I felt good afterward but I went over to KT's for easter lunch and I'm pretty sure I reacquired every last calorie I burned off this morning :)

I made a v.v. yummy salad with herbs, cilantro, green onions, crunchy sprouted peas, broccoli, cauliflower, some brightly colored little tomatoes called "rainbow tomatoes" and freshly grated carrots. It was colorful and delicious AND I got it all from Whole Foods Market so it was organic as well. I'm hoping that will offset the rest of the stuff that wasn't quite so low calorie...we'll see.

I decided to go visit with my mom for a few hours since it's only a 20 min drive from KT's house and we had a nice visit. She gets really anxious when I have to fly anywhere and I knew she would feel better seeing me before I leave for Minneapolis on Tuesday (did I mention that here?...library conference in Minneapolis in March....who's bright idea was that?). Anyway, we had a nice visit and it was only as I got ready to leave, a little after 7pm, that I could not find my keys. Of course, what else would it be? They were safely in my purse locked up in my car. So one call to a locksmith, $70, and an hour and a half later I was finally on my way home.

I had a few things I wanted to get done tonight so I won't have to wig out tomorrow night, but oh well. I'm tired and I'm going to bed so I'll just have to get everything done tomorrow. Oh yeah, in Minneapolis I'm getting another tattoo :)

night ya'll!

friday @ the movies

I've decided to start a brand new segment here at Holley's house called friday @ the movies. I've been getting back in to going since it is one of my v. fav things to do and hey, why not share the fun?!

So last Friday I saw what is destined to become one of my favorite movies when it comes out on DVD. I'll no doubt see it again in the theater given a smidgen of opportunity and that is Doomsday! (IMDB, Cinematical(not so complimentary but I'm all about fair reporting), Heretic Spire, a Damn Lie, author Cherie Priest's blog)

After the relatively crappy blandness that was 10,000 B.C., this was like a searing ray of visual fun and excitment! There were guns, explosions, humanity destroying viruses, destriers, flails, maces, mohawks, tattoos, piercings, cannabalistic parties, stage shows...I can't begin to describe it all! I laughed, especially at the Sol's entrance on the stage. All he needs is Tina Turner by his side and you'd have a much more modern Mad Max. This movie has been compared to many others but I've yet to see Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome mentioned and that makes me curious. I cringed, oh, several times, both from mild revulsion and an overdeveloped startle reflex. Flashy cars, A-Team assembled cars, long stretches of deserted highways...you get the jist. I had a great time with this movie from the opening scenes to the closing credits. I can hardly wait to see it again! Is it award-winning cinema? Probably not, but it IS entertaining and just the type of movie that shines on a larger-than-life, digitally projected, surround sound movie theater screen.

Some of my favorite comments from:

an IMDB commentor..."It is a movie that shows you can take the best elements from different sci-fi action movies and blender them up into a really fun frothy bloody good time. It's all a bit mindless and gory but it is a the most fun I've had in the theater in a long time and the action is gritty. Never resorting to Matrix style shenanigans. Enjoy it on the big screen while you can. "

Author Cherie Priest's blog (Heretic Spire, a Damn Lie)...(Hey, read her books too! They are pretty damn good!)...I. Loved. This. Movie. And it’s so deliberately, aggressively trashy that I suspect I’m going to be about 90% alone in this blind adoration, but there you go. I want to watch this movie again, and I want to watch more movies like it. (P.S. the rest of her post about this movie is definitely worth a read so click through on the links near the top of the post!)

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On to this Friday!

I harbor a lasting appreciation and enjoyment of Tyler Perry's stage productions and movies so I could not miss seeing Meet the Browns yesterday! It was too funny, but was also patterned by moments of sadness, despair, and personal growth...alot like life is. There were the inevitable corny moments that occur in movies that play to stereotypes, but Leroy Brown was KILLING me and all the other moviegoers in that theater! I haven't laughed so hard in a long while. One of my favorites is when he asked everyone to quiet down for the reading of the Last Will and Testicles of his dearly departed father :) ...and the helichopters ...and the, well, I could go on and on. Go see it for yourself. And can I just say that Angela Bassett gets more beautiful everyday? She is going to be one of those fortunate people that stays pretty forever.

This Tyler Perry effort was v.v. good, but I enjoyed Diary of a Mad Black Woman the most of all the films I've seen. Madea's Family Reunion is my favorite of his plays. Anyway, if you like comedy, go see Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns before it's out of the theaters.

That is all.

library archaeology

It is an absolutely B-U-tiful day outside and I'll spend it under the wonderful florescent lighting at my library! When I got in to work this morning there was a book sitting on the reference desk in the middle of our desk calendar: The Quakers in America by Thomas D. Hamm. On the book is a yellow post-it on which is written, "For reference purposes only, I seek only open minds, not conversion."

hmmmmm.

I can't say that I've ever thought of the Quaker community as rabid evangelicals, but obviously someone has...

nightmares for sure

Can I just say, and please pardon my language on this, that I would SHIT MY PANTS and run screaming in hysterical 14th century fear if I saw this robotic "dog" coming toward me in the woods.....click over to Zooillogix for a more complete breakdown, but for instant gratification:

my crappy taste in movies....

....for ALL the world to see! Here is the fantabulous movie meme I lifted from the Book Diva!

The Rules!
1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb (Internet Movie Database) and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess (if you know them all, please don't guess every one).
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. No Googling or IMDb-ing. (That would be cheating, and no fun!)

....and here they are, in no particular order! Good luck!

• Mellow greetings. What seems to be your boggle?
  
• Fraulein, is it to be at every meal, or merely at dinnertime, that you intend on leading us all through this rare and wonderful new world of... indigestion? The Sound of Music guessed by the BookDiva
  
• DON'T MOVE, DIRTBAG! Police Academy guessed by T
  
• Oh, great valium. Not only will we be able to go to sleep, if we get attacked in the middle of the night, we won't even care.
  
• Okay, just to be clear here, our options are: die here, die in the tunnels, or die in the streets. That pretty much it? Cloverfield, guessed by KT
  
• Please! Nietzsche was a chauvinist pig who was in love with his sister.Day After Tomorrow guessed by T
  
• I can't have a baby because I have a 12:30 lunch meeting
  
• What do you think of this? Too ornate? Or do you think it's... beltacular.
  
• I've always been better at feeling out volcanoes than people and politics. Dante's Peak guessed by Elizabeth
  
• You used up all the glue on purpose!A Christmas Story, guessed by KT

library archaeology

I found these two notes sitting at one of our computer stations:

NOTE #1
To: Cameron
From: Molly
(small map drawn on the paper)
"Here's a map of where I am. Come find me if you need a hug or a kiss. Love, Friend."

NOTE #2
To: Cameron
From: Ex-Friend
It simply reads, "I'm moving now so you can't find me using my map. Asshole!"

Ah, the fickle hand of friendship....

Sips N Strokes b'day present

MK gave T and I a gift certificate for our March birthdays to this art thing called Sips n' Strokes. You BYOB, drink and paint. What's not to like? I call mine, The Wound! That's me in the green tent.

You can see our efforts a little better here, although there is quite a glare on mine.

sunday nature walk

I was petsitting Rudder and Topper this past weekend and I took Rudder on a two hour walk along Jemison Trail in Mountain Brook. It was an absolutely GlOrIoUs DaY!Topper was hanging out in his favorite kitty spot when Rudder and I left for the Trail.

Isn't he handsome?

If you squint, you can see the woodpecker on top of this tree. I thought that was a nest right below him, but it turned out to just be some moss. The sky was alot more blue in person.


Again, you have to squint on this one, but you can just see a cherry tree in full bloom through the trees...a welcome glimpse of spring!

Rudder looked like he was going to sample this and I am NOT up on local plant life. No poisonings on my watch, little buddy!

Here's a close up of the suspicious plant. Does anyone know what this is and if it is poisonous? Before anyone asks, Rudder did not ingest anything other than some good ol' St. Augustine on our woodland adventure.

I thought these were just lovely growing there amongst the rocks and, unfortunately, the bit of plastic in the plant next to them. There was not a plentiful amount of trash to be found on Jemison Trail, but there was enough to make me irritated. Come on people! How hard is it to find a freakin' trashcan?!

Isn't Rudder cute? He nosed around and splashed in the water and was generally v.v. cute....except when there were other dogs around and anything with wheels (ugh, bikes and strollers!)

I wish you could have heard the sound this little creek was making...it sounded just like the sunshine looks :)

This is probably an alternative hangout for woodpecker from the first photo!

htw