Switzerland or Bust
I am getting ready for a trip to Switzerland. Sounds cool, huh? The Swiss Alps and hot chocolate and Heidi and all. But we will not be staying in a city there. We will be in a rather out-of-the-way village in the mountains. There are no malls or convenience stores or fine restaurants. Kind of like someone coming to my part of the USA and going to, say, Mayberry, NC.
I fully expect that Switzerland's Mayberry will be far more picturesque than North Carolina's. Instead of Aunt Bea with her poufy bun, we will have Tante Bertilda with a crown of braids. Strudel rather than sticky buns. Weiner schnitzel rather than country fried steak. Bier rather than...well, maybe 'Bier' and 'beer' are pretty close. I anticipate most things, though, will be much cooler in Switzerland.
I intend to get a digital camera before this trip (to take pictures of people, not food - well, maybe food too). Yes, I am the only person on the planet who is not a professional photographer (or even an expert amateur) and still uses film. By using film and ordering my pictures on CD, I have avoided having to learn a whole new technology. But my digital-camera envy has surpassed my laziness and I am ready to take the plunge. Stay tuned for pictures of the trip when I return (eventually). I do have a Photobucket account, so I'm not completely Neanderthal about the picture thing.
So, is anyone else planning a great trip this summer? Got exciting plans that will make us writhe with jealousy? Let me know!
Book Covers and Coming Attractions - Arr!
Obsessing and Moving On
Dame Barbara CartlandI'll admit I get obsessed about any number of things. It never lasts long, but while it does it is all-consuming. I remember a fling I had with Barbara Cartland books when I was 14. I went to the library and got armloads of them. Those heroines with heart-shaped faces and huge eyes. The one, sweet kiss I waited a whole book for! But, after reading 50 or 60, I wanted something else. I moved on.
I had it bad one year for Tagalongs - the Girl Scout cookies filled with luscious peanut butter on a vanilla cookie, smothered in chocolate. I bought for myself (not to share with family) at least 3 boxes. I ate them all. By myself. Toward the end, they had no flavor. I burned out on them. I moved on.
I do it most often with great songs. I have many CDs to which I listen endlessly, looping and relooping a single song, a group of songs, or the whole CD. I have burned out on many great CDs. I have learned to pace myself a bit, not to play it when it no longer gives me that seat-bouncing giddy rush when I hear the opening bars. Because when the thrill is gone, I'll move on.
I like to think I have learned, at least a little, not to be so obsessive. It's hard on relationships, for one thing. My husband and I have been married for 14-1/2 years and dated for 4-1/2 years before that. Nineteen years is a lot of years. It took some doing to get us past the no-longer-obsessed stage and into a more mature relationship. It was worth it. If I can manage to do the same with books and cookies and CDs and movies and any number of other things, I may grow up yet!
How about you? Do you obsess or are you one of those annoying, balanced people? If you are a reformed obsessive, what's your secret? Please let me hear I'm not alone!Labels: Girl Scout cookies, Life, movies, Music
My Life As a Bandita
I announced last week the unveiling of my new group blog,
Romance Bandits. I think I've mentioned before that it's possible for me to feel like I'm cheating on my blog. Or website. I flung up a
MySpace page, but quickly learned to ignore it after the initial fun and frenzy of friending people.
I hate to ignore my own poor, semi-neglected blog, but it's so much more fun to blog with a group! I like the energy, the clamor, and getting to merely comment on other people's brilliant posts. Since mine are never what I would classify as
brilliant, this works out for me.
Does anyone else find it easier to glom onto other people's great work/blog/e-mail rather than create their own?Labels: Cool sites
I was tagged by Trish!
I was tagged by my friend Trish, so now you get to play with me!
Here are the rules:
1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
8 random facts/habits about me …
1. I think peanut butter is almost a perfect food. If they could just get rid of the fat and calories!
2. I am so allergic to MSG that I get hives if I eat it and all my mucous membranes (eyelids, lips, nose) start to swell.
3. I adore Chinese food, which can make #2 a challenge when I'm out of town!
4. I am a huge fan of alternative music and my favorite radio station is one from a local college.
5. I cannot function on less than 6-1/2 hours of sleep.
6. I am an electrical engineer (according to my college diploma, anyway).
7. My favorite cookies are Trader Joe's Triple Ginger cookies.
8. I am a registered Girl Scout!
I tagged: Sonja, Marcia, Skye, Liz, Jenna, Donna, Jennifer and Cindy!
Labels: Cool sites, Life
Romance Bandits Go Live!
Zorro, our Romance Bandits Inspiration!I'm excited to announce that I am a member of the
Romance Bandits blog. The Romance Bandits is a blog of around 20 of the 2006 Golden Heart finalists. We have fabulous published authors like
Anna Campbell,
Donna MacMeans,
Christine Wells and
Tawny Weber, as well as a collection of fabulous as-yet-unpublished authors like
Kim Howe, who made it to the final round of 2007's American Title contest!
Come on over and check us out. We will be thrilled to have you there!
Labels: Cool sites
Raving on Guster
Guster: Adam, Ryan, Joe, BrianI have a dirty secret: I have never, according to my husband, really grown up. This will surprise none of my friends. My husband believes this because I still go to concerts. Not all concerts, not random concerts, but good concerts. Ones that it would sear my soul to miss.
I am taking this opportunity, here on my very own blog where I have all the power, to rave on one of my favorite bands, Guster. I encourage you, if you've never experienced them, to start off with their album Guster On Ice. Why is this album so expensive, you ask? Because it is not only a fabulous live CD (recorded at a concert in Portland, Maine), but it also contains a DVD of the concert. As awesome as the CD is, it's the DVD that will make you a rabid Guster fan. The band, you readily realize, are quite off - all of them. At first, I thought maybe Joe wasn't as cracked as the others, being a bit older and more mature. But the Joe's Place episodes on the Guster website, recorded during recording of the album Ganging Up On the Sun, proved me wrong (if not delusional).
The mad drummer and conga player, Brian Rosenworcel, is the most beautifully insane and funny person on the planet. Except for his fixation on the tour bus toilet, which is slightly disturbing, Brian (aka "Thundergod") is a delight to Guster readers everywhere. Brian keeps up the Road and Studio journals on the website and MySpace pages. Check them out.
Speaking of MySpace, my only gripe with Guster is that I put one of their songs on my own MySpace page and then friended Guster. Someone from the Guster MySpace page removed their song from my page! Now, they may simply not want their song attached to random MySpace pages, but it felt like an ageist snub. I figure, if I'm not too old to travel around the country to college campuses to see them or to buy their (reasonably priced) merch, they should not snub my MySpace page. Then again, maybe I'm reading too much into the removal. By the way, I replaced their song with one from a new find, My Brightest Diamond. I discovered them when I heard them open for The Decemberists last month. Awesome concert!
Of course, even though they dissed me, I'm going to see Guster this weekend at Furman University. It's a 4-1/2 hour drive, but I'm that kind of fan. As a matter of fact, I drove 10 hours to Ohio to see them once. Anyone else have bands they would drive way too far to see?
Labels: Music
