I am going to participate in a “book tour,” which means that on July 7 I will be posting a review of the book ‘The Promise of Provence” by Patricia Sands! On July 9 I will randomly give away a digital copy of the book (or a $10 amazon gift card). How cool is that? I hope that I can get it together enough to do a virtual interview with the author, as well. I love to find out how writers tick!
I love books! Woot!
1st April 2013, Easter Monday, April Fool’s Day P1710412 (Photo credit: tomylees)
Happy April! Happy April Fool’s Day!
I’ve always loved the 1st of a new month and I feel great affinity with April 1st, as it’s my half birthday!
(Really, who celebrates such a thing? I guess I do! )
April is kind of the yin to my yang or something.
April is also National Poetry Month and Autism Awareness Month, among other wacky holidays (National Welding Month? International Guitar Month?). I’m always looking for a reason to celebrate, so websites like Holiday Insights are great places to find inspiration. (e.g. 3rd Thursday in April (4/18) = National High Five Day, April 23 = Take a Chance Day, April 30 = Hairstyle Appreciation Day.)
It’s been a great start to April, so I’ll start the month with a list of what’s been making me happy lately!
The United States of Movies
Anna Karenina celebratory meal
Keep Calm and…
Pedis with the girls
Easter Chicks (Photo credit: Flying Pig Party Productions)
In honor of National Poetry Month, here is my favorite poem about April. I’ve shared it on my blog in another April post (2011, I believe). I memorized it in high school and it still comes to mind when I think of springtime and April. I would LOVE to know your favorite poems! Send them my way!
APRIL by Marcia Masters
It’s lemonade, it’s lemonade, it’s daisy.
It’s a roller-skating, scissor-grinding day;
It’s gingham-waisted, chocolate flavored, lazy,
With the children flower-scattered at their play.
It’s the sun like watermelon,
And the sidewalks overlaid
With a glaze of yellow yellow
Like a jar of marmalade.
It’s the mower gently mowing,
And the stars like startled glass,
While the mower keeps on going
Through a waterfall of grass.
Then the rich magenta evening
Like a sauce upon the walk,
And the porches softly swinging
With a hammockful of talk.
It’s the hobo at the corner
With his lilac-sniffing gait,
And the shy departing thunder
Of the fast departing skate.
It’s lemonade, it’s lemonade, it’s April!
A water sprinkler, puddle winking time,
When a boy who peddles slowly, with a smile remote and holy,
Sells you April chocolate flavored for a dime.
I haven’t seen anything in the theatres for a few weeks (not that I haven’t wanted to!) but had good Netflix viewing time…
Movie night (Photo credit: Andrei Z)
Blu-Ray DVDs – so fun!
Netflix Instant:
Coming up:
66ème Festival de Venise (Mostra) Ethan Hawke (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
What is your movie news?
2013 Here We Come!
The New Year feel has settled in. I think I’ve already gotten used to typing 2013 at work!
So now it’s time to think about my 2nd quarter of 11 fun things to do and look forward to!
(I think it needs a new name! It’s so cumbersome! 44 Things Quarter 2?)
My FALL list was not completed: I did NOT shop early for Christmas or play accordion weekly.
But I don’t feel regrets or guilt about not accomplishing things…
it just means that other things popped up and pushed them out of the way!
So my WINTER list of things to do or look forward to starts here:
English: Persusasion (Jane Austen Novel). For Sir Elliot, baronnet, the hints of Mrs Sheppard, his agent, was very unwelcome. Français : Persuasion, dernier roman de Jane Austen. Sir Elliot n’apprécie pas les conseils d’économie de Mr Sheppard, son notaire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
44 Things – Quarter 2 (Jan-Feb-Mar)
Well, that wasn’t what I thought it would be, but there you have it! I am maybe forgetting some of the things that I know that I will be looking forward to! Yikes… I started writing this down somewhere. And I’m still kicking around a list of THINGS for 2013, sort of like last year’s list. It may be an over-arching list, or maybe a theme word or statement for the year… still thinking about it on paper.
How about you? How do you feel about resolutions? Would you rather pick a theme WORD or STATEMENT (ala Let ‘er Rip) than set goals? Do you avoid these altogether?
In 2012 –
Life changed pretty drastically for me, with my (wonderful) new job! Aside from having a lot to learn about social work in the hospital setting (specifically Emergency Department), the unpredictable and crazy hours have caused the need for creativity and flexibility in getting in the fun stuff! But, never fear. I still manage to find time for fun!
In 2012 –
There were milestones –
Celebrating birthdays in style!
There were things to do with kids –
St. Paul Winter Carnival – brr!
Minnesota State Fair – the girls and the guys!
There were concerts –
Jeremy Messersmith Supper Club Tour
These girls are ready to rock!
There were plays –
Post-Broadway dinner at Sardi’s
After Nice Work If You Can Get It
There were trips and excursions –
Mint Juleps and hats!
Bailey’s Harbor store – and a great motto!
There were books –
Maeve Binchy 1940-2012
World Book Night – The Book Thief
Paula McLain, author
There were movies –
Happy 2013 to one and all! More adventures to come!
Related articles
christmas 2007 (Photo credit: paparutzi)
that the presents I ordered online (some as late as yesterday!) arrive in time for Christmas
christmas 2007 (Photo credit: paparutzi)
that I get busy and am productive on one of my only days off until Christmas
(1. finish shopping 2. start wrapping 3. make cardamom cookies)
that someone comes and helps me drink all of the wine I’ve purchased lately
that the pink Christmas balls don’t fall off my little tree outside and shatter
Enough on my inside tree so some went to the outside tree!
that the few cards and letters that I mailed out arrive in time
(and that the few more that I will send will arrive in one piece!)
A great remembrance of 2012
that I think of a clever way to re-cap 2012 and set goals for 2013
that the Christmas fun continues throughout the next week
Sweaters are fun!
that there is time for reflection these few days before the first day of winter
(I have that list, remember… )
that someday soon I can get through a day without shedding sad tears
(so much sadness in the world)
that in 2013 I can get lost in a Jane Austen re-read – so relaxing
“It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.”
— Jane Austen (Sense and Sensibility)
that everyone takes time to have a wonderful holiday season with those that they love and keeps their faith in the goodness of people.
“It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
I think this is pretty funny… two years ago I blogged about The Life of Pi as “a movie I do NOT want to see.” I think that if it hadn’t gotten such grand reviews (from movie and book lovers alike) I wouldn’t have seen it in the theatre. But it was grand. And worth seeing. Any books made into movies you would NEVER want to see?
On the other hand, I think this is a movie that I would not want to see. It is so vivid in my mind and I don’t want it adapted to the big screen. How would they do it??? It boggles my mind. So, I’m guessing that it does somehow make it into a queue of mine someday – out of curiosity.
Only a few weeks left in 2012.
Tonight I was looking back in my computer to see if I wrote any kind of “end of year wrap up” for 2011 and found nothing but revisions of resumes and cover letters dated 2011. I guess that’s where my mind was last year at this time! What a difference a year makes.
It was fun to go back and read my December 2011 and January 2012 blogs – the books and movies that I indulged in during unemployment and my blogs about what I will and won’t miss about unemployment. Ah.
Pretty good stuff. I think I was the most creative during that time! Blogs in early 2012 were pretty ‘meh.” I guess brain power was going elsewhere for a while… rightly so!
Anyway, found this list again:
US passport (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
12 Things to Get Done in 2012
Garrison Keillor (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Still no passport (eeek!) and no Garrison yet, but NYC twice in a year? A dream come true.
Seeing “Once” twice? Amazing.
Even on Facebook in January 2011 I was posting links for the musical and dreaming of getting there.
Fun to start my dream list for 2013! What do I want to come true this coming year???
I have to review my birthday list of 11 Things to do in the Fall, as the Winter Solstice is coming up soon and it’ll be time for a new list! Yikes!
More later on that!
After 10 years, 7 years and 150,000 with me, it was time.
It was a good car.
I’d been balking at the idea of trading it in and was contemplating getting it fixed, but the list of things needing repair kept getting longer and longer, so it boiled down to getting a loan to fix it up or bite the bullet and get a car payment.
Once you put on a bumper sticker, there’s no going back…
This car was with me during Marissa’s senior year (she got my old Honda Civic)
This car drove us away from my house during the flood evacuation
This car took me on a few road trips – to Chicago, Des Moines, Pierre SD, and many Minnesota adventures
When I bought this car, audiocassettes were the most common way to listen to audiobooks,
so I had to have a cassette player installed, as it only had CD!
In the glove box, I found the cassette that will play walkmans or iPods over the stereo. So retro!
When I bought this car, the moon roof scared me a little!
I was afraid a bird (more accurately, a wild turkey) would fly in or something.
The Swell Season bumper stickers
So it wasn’t without a teary eye that I traded it in last week.
I told the guy “I needed a moment” with it and I took these photos.
It was a good car.
But it was time.
I spent more time researching things online than I did test-driving cars.
One car guy sent me an email saying that 4% of people spend more time looking for their car than their spouse.
That’s a weird statistic, isn’t it?? I didn’t spend THAT much time. I was wanting it to happen sooner than later.
I was thankful to find a manual transmission 2-door at a decent price.
Evidently manual transmissions are a dying breed.
Happy Honda-Days!
So this super-fancy car is a 6-speed manual! Yay!
Had to stop for the photo opportunity before I got to my house! Lovely digital interior after 44 miles!
So you’ll have to stop by and ask me for a ride! I’m sure I’ll be ready to roll!
But I may make you notice that even my garage has the New Car Smell!
Merry Christmas to me!
These girls are ready to rock!
I woke up this morning thinking of the Bruce Springsteen concert, which was one week ago tonight!
We bought our tickets in August, so it has been something we have been anticipating for quite some time.
(Anticipation of great things is so awesome!)
We began our adventure at the House of Coates Bar where we had delicious burgers –
Best burgers in Minnesota? In 2008!
and sat in a booth that was either too hot or too cold!
A dive bar experience with delicious burgers and inconsistent heat!
We had tickets on the Club Level, so it was a quieter atmosphere. Our seats were in the last row so we didn’t have to worry about standing and dancing in front of people who chose to sit during the concert.
(Really, who sits during a Bruce concert??? Evidently people in the Club Level!).
Bruce didn’t disappoint. He was on stage for 185 minutes. He never left. Not for a minute.
Walking amid the crowd – early in the show and late in the show!
Dancing in the Dark – Bruce brought a Veteran on stage for a dance! (Sidenote: According to Google, Bruce wears Wrangler Jeans! And he wears them well!)
He even crowd surfed! (This is pre-surfing)
This is at the end of the show – and he is full of energy!
And he appeared more energized at the end of the show than at the beginning!
The Finale – American Land is such a fun song!
He is an amazing performer and I hope that I get to see him a few more times! I think next time, I want to be “down there,” in that crowd of people dancing and singing along. I hope I can do that before I get too old.
Although, you could see on the big screen, that some of them were not spring chickens!
I’ve been thinking about Bruce, because I feel like I’m a “come-lately” fan.
But I used to listen to his music a lot in the late 80s, and I had forgotten that until I went to his concert for the first time in 2009
He is an amazing song writer and his songs tell stories.
I remember listening to his Live album (3 cassettes, given to my brother for Christmas), listening to the stories of Johnny 99, Reason to Believe, Cadillac Ranch, Nebraska… all stories beautifully (and often tragically) told.
Good stuff for a moody teenager to listen to (now and then)!
So I’m not really a “come-lately” but I have been a “Tramp” for many years!
I think as I get older, I can appreciate more and am in awe of his passion for music and for people.
Here is a World Premiere of Devils and Dust from that night, a compilation of songs from the night and the setlist for
Monday, November 12, 2012 at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, MN! Woot!
Soundcheck:
Devils And Dust
Concert:
1. I’m A Rocker
2. Hungry Heart
3. No Surrender
4. Night
5. Loose Ends
6. Something In The Night
7. STOLEN CAR*
8. We Take Care Of Our Own
9. Wrecking Ball
10. Death to My Hometown
11. My City of Ruins
12. The E Street Shuffle
13. Pay Me My Money Down
14. DEVILS AND DUST*
15. Youngstown
16. Murder Incorporated
17. She’s The One
18. Shackled and Drawn
19. Waitin’ On A Sunny Day
20. The Rising
21. Badlands
22. Land of Hope and Dreams
Encore:
23. Jungleland
24. Born to Run
25. Dancing In The Dark
26. Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
27. American Land
http://www.backstreets.com/setlists.html to read more about the tour.
Our concert was a special event according to the Bruce experts!
Well, that’s enough about Bruuuuce! Unless you want to tell me about your experiences!
Walkie Talkie Book Club 