One More Detour on the Writing Road

One of those mornings when you could just walk forever. After all the heat we muddled through, now we’ve got coolth. 60s today. Maybe 70F tomorrow. A nice change of pace, but strange. With the heavy cloud and stiff breeze angling off the lake, it feels more like early fall than midsummer.

Looong walk this morning through the state park with the Gabster, around a small lake and up to the shore of the big one. Lake Michigan was active thanks to the breeze, but not choppy–I could see a few sailboats in the distance. The fields and marshy areas were well and truly filled with wildflowers, grasses, shrubs. Saw many birds. Some geese on the small lake. A few deer.

Gaby loves morning walks. After we got home, she let fly with a bout of the Zooms, dashing around in circles and leaping off the deck.

Grocery shopping accomplished. Lunch consisted of sliced turkey on a whole-grain roll with white cheddar, roasted red pepper. Warmed it in the oven to melt the cheese, then topped it with sharp mustard and lettuce. Had it with some Trader Joe’s cheddar & horseradish potato chips, which had a nice, strong bite. Once again, was forced to admit that most of the time, I make a much better sandwich than anything I could get in a deli. It’s just basic assembling the bits, nothing special. But the ingredients are pretty much the same as those from a deli, and I can tweak whatever I want.

I’d like to think I’m getting cheap in my old age, but then a sharp pair of earrings pops up online, and so much for the money I saved making my own sandwiches.

First tomatoes harvested, a trio of the Juliet grape. I think I picked them too early–they were sweet, but a little firm and lacking depth. I think I’ll leave the rest of the red ones on the vine for a few more days.

In other news…well, I have to admit that I am behind in movie watching. Way behind. Waaaay behind. Just saw Skyfall a few weeks ago. Haven’t seen Iron Man 3, or the Avengers. So I pretty much read what everyone else posted online and figured that I’d get around to it eventually. Read all the fuss about Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Thought he looked cool in the costume. Saw the Comicon video that’s been making the rounds. Xfinity On Demand doesn’t have The Avengers yet, but it did have Thor, so I watched it last night.

Okay. I get the fuss over Loki. I totally get it.

Last week at the day job coming up. 2 and a half more days….

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

The spam onslaught continues. It’s reached the point that I don’t even bother checking to see if anything legit got snagged in the net. Usually, Akismet will let through the odd piece of spam rather than filter out clean mail, but anything is possible. If you tried to post a comment on my site and find it never showed up, it’s likely gone. Try again.

Not a lick of snow yet this winter. On average, this means that snowfall for the season will be well below average. That’s good for day to day life, but bad for the Lake level, which is already near historic lows. I’m wondering what it means for next year, and whether it’s worth planning a vegetable garden. The blast of heat we had last summer battered the hell out of the tomatoes–I wound up with about a quarter of the usual harvest. Basil sucked. The only thing that did well was the Indestructible Chive, the cockroach of the veggie kingdom.

Kind of a disjointed post, but there’s not much more to report. Pondering changes around the house in the coming year that I can do myself–painting bedrooms, replacing curtain rods, rehabbing the kitchen cupboards. I’ve been gleaning ideas from This Old House, HGTV. Trying to decide which paint colors might work best.

And finally, midweek happiness is poking through the deep freeze and finding stashes of lamb chops and cranberry cake. And finding CONSTANTINE playing on SyFy, and getting to watch Tilda Swinton as Gabriel one more time.

It’s the best film for hair. Swinton’s and Rachel Weisz’s. If I could have just one fourth of Weisz’s hair in place of the dark lint currently stuck atop my head, I would be happy.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

Desert Island films–the five films I would want with me if I ever washed up on some distant shore with my solar-powered DVD player:

Kill Bill Vols. 1&2 (counts as one film because they are one film)

Constantine (and don’t tell me how miscast Keanu Reeves was. I never read the graphic novels on which the movie was based. I only know this version of the story, and I like it fine)

A Christmas Carol (the Alastair Sim version)

WALL-E (for that first half-hour, especially)

Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban (it’s my favorite movie of the bunch for the promise of a family for Harry, and the relatively happy ending)

Top 5 Desert Island books (paper version, because otherwise it’s every book I own on an e-reader and then what’s the point of lists?):

Good Omens
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy/Smiley’s People (cheating, but it’s really one story)
Mapp & Lucia (the omnibus. really cheating here)
Feet of Clay (hard to pick a favorite Discworld novel, but I have to go with this one because it features my favorite bit of Vimes-Vetinari repartee)
Lords & Ladies (2nd favorite Discworld novel, and the first one I ever read. I didn’t know who was the character who spoke ALL IN CAPS. I thought he was just some wizard. And because a Nanny & Granny book is a necessity)

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

I saw it for the first time last night, hacked with commercials. The station, AMC, ran it again immediately, and I watched it again. Been thinking about it off and on all day.

Parts of it are so, so good. Every scene with Rutger Hauer. Daryl Hannah. William Sanderson. The dark world and the melange of clothing and language and the strange tiny children? Mutants? Sanderson’s apartment, filled with his companions. The rain.

I’m a fan of Harrison Ford, but he didn’t fit this movie. He lacks noir authority, and he needed it to pull off Deckard. I watch the scene below, Hauer’s Tears in the Rain speech, and dammit they cut to Ford’s reaction and all he has to offer is his Han Solo “oops’ expression. I’m not sure who from that early 80s era would have worked better. A more coiled-spring type, yes, but I can’t think of a name. But hi-ho open-face sandwich? No. I read that he fought against the inclusion of the voiceovers, and I agree with him. I know they’re a noir convention, but they added nothing to the story and Ford’s voice made them worse.

Yes, I do so like him. But here he’s a pastel golf shirt at a Goth Ball.

Hauer is incredible. Terrifying and mad, yet tender in his scenes with Hannah. But when they’re together in Sanderson’s flat, there’s that undercurrent. That they schemed to get in and now they’re there. That they’ve come for something, and they won’t leave until they get it. That Sanderson is likely a dead man. And they do it all with looks. The danger comes off of them in waves as they smile at one another.

I guess you could say I was enthralled.

Mirrored from Kristine Smith.

Did you ever have a lot to say, and absolutely no energy/will/urge to post any of it? It is late. Maybe I just need to get some sleep.

Did see HP7.2 today. I will admit that I shed a tear or three at various times, but even so, I was disappointed. The story arc went off the rails for me from Half-Blood Prince on, and never really got back on. Note to self--big moments for secondary characters do not make up for slapdash explanations and holes in plot. Got home in time to watch a good part of RotK, and the contrasts slapped me upside the head. The characters in the Ring trilogy developed over the course of the films; Harry, Hermione, and Ron seemed to diminish. I don't like saying that, because I still love the films. But something went missing along the way to the end, never to be found.

Oh well.

Saw Yo-Yo Ma Friday night. He was delightful.

Tired now.

"Constantine" is on AMC tonight.

I never read the graphic novel, so Keanu Reeves' lack of resemblance to the title character is a non-issue.

Getting tired of the commercials for the "Breaking Bad" season premiere, but I will endeavor to cope.

I like Reeves, but Tilda Swinton and Peter Stormare make this movie.

It's a school night.

I really shouldn't be watching Kill Bill Vol 2.

Oh well. Only 40 minutes to go. I've come this far....

Yesterday I excavated some containers of homemade tomato puree from the deep freeze. Dug around in the fridge, and found part of an onion, some wilted celery, and a chunk of meatloaf. Sautéd the onion and celery, then added the puree, black and kidney beans, cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, the meatloaf, and let it simmer for a few hours. Decent chili. Lots of leftovers for freezing.

We've had chili-style weather the last few days, cool and rainy. It's supposed to warm up this weekend, but I'll believe it when I feel it.

I trashed the broccoli raab sprouts that had flowered, and planted more seeds. Some of the lettuce is ready to cut. At least something likes the cool weather.

Watching THE MUMMY on AMC. Not a particularly subtle film

Watching "Rocky Horror" for the first time ever.

Such a deprived childhood I had.

Watching WALL-E for the first time.

::sniffle::

The poor little cockroach....

UPDATE: Yea!

::sniffle::

Next up, THE KILLING. How's that for a contrast?