I’m obsessed with taking pictures of clouds and sunsets. They just amaze me. I saw the clouds in the first image on my way home from work on a stormy night. Never without my camera, I pulled into McDonalds’ parking lot just to take this picture. You can see rain in the distance. The bottom image I find especially beautiful because of the rich, golden colors.
Keith and his brother have begun a business called Retuned Guitars, LLC, which specializes in reconditioned guitars. I’m not even a guitar person, and I think these are all beautiful. If only I could play! I think I may still be able to squeak out a note or two on the ol’ clarinet, but I’m a far cry from rocker. Currently they’re selling an Epiphone Les Paul Ultra II, an Epiphone EM-2 FX Prophecy, a Samick D6 CE Greg Bennett Design, and a Jackson Dinky. Anyhow, check out their auctions. Buy a guitar. Thanks!
Note: I didn’t post pics of all the guitars. Just check out the auction.
A friend from work recently sent me an email with a link to some really funny videos, and they made me laugh so hard, I just had to share them. The guy is Mike Rowe of TLC’s Dirtiest Job’s Ever! tv show. Years ago he worked for QVC, and these videos captured some of his most funniest moments on QVC. Even if you don’t know who the heck Mike Rowe is, these are funny…
Keith is a far better cook than I. This is true not for my lack of skill, but mainly for my lack of patience. Pancakes make me crazy because you just stand there and wait for bubbles to appear. Therefore, it’s a good thing Keith likes to cook and is good at it. As subscribers to Bon Appetit magazine, each month we get the most fabulous recipes accompanied by photos that just make you drool. In the September issue, there was a whole section devoted to sweets, which are my weaknesses. My thighs can attest. Keith found the recipe for key lime cupcakes, and we were sold. (his favorite dessert is key lime pie, and I like pretty much anything with the word “cake” in it) MAKE THEM! Or, if you’re like me, find someone who will make them for you. I’m sure if you don’t like key lime, you could easily replace it with orange or lemon. Anyhow, recipe below. Our changes are in italics.
Frosting
Prep for cupcakes
Prep for frosting
-recipe from Bon Appetit magazine, September 2008
Whew! It was a long hard week, and I had way too many margaritas last night to function well at work today. Keith is watching football in the living room. Although Tony Romo is nice to look at, if I lie down on the couch, I’m sure to fall asleep. I’m feeling a bit nostalgic, so here it goes… I think these marbles are so pretty. I have two big jars full of them in our living room. When I was a kid, I used to stare up at them on their high shelf in my grandparent’s house, just longing to take them out of their jars, touch them all, and hold them up to the light. I got my wish on only one occasion. My grandmother allowed me to take down one jar and very carefully remove five marbles at a time into a shoebox. Only five, and with the utmost care. Years later, after both my grandparents had passed, my aunt gave me both jars. I’m a really sentimental person, so these jars mean a great deal to me. And, if I so desire, I can take them out anytime I want. But I’d rather just leave them sitting there looking pretty.
It’s official. Keith and I are going to see Kings of Leon in Austin this October! I bought the tickets today as part of Keith’s birthday present. Well, I did buy the tickets but I can’t take any of the credit for coming up with the idea myself. Keith knew that they were on tour, checked the dates and locations, and said, “this is what I want for my birthday.” I too love Kings of Leon and I hear Austin is fun, so it sounded like a great idea to me. Their new release, Sex on Fire, is awesome. The Stills and We are Scientists are opening, both great bands. We are so excited about going and getting a mini-vacation in Austin. If you know of any cool things for us to do while there, let me know… BTW, I love On Call by Kings of Leon so much that I created a ringtone for my phone, which completely annoyed my cubicle mate…
A couple times a year, our local library holds these awesome book sales in which all hardcover books are $1 and all paperbacks are 50 cents. I live for these sales and, as a result, have a hard time buying a book at full price. Anyhow, the most recent book sale was just a few weeks ago and I came home with an armful of goodies, including: Waiting by Ha Jin (I first encountered this book in Cross-Cultural Communications class in college. highly recommended), The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (I met this guy, and he’s just as nice in person as he seems in his books), The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood, Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith (author of my favorite book, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn), Winter Orchard and Other Stories by Josephine Johnson (I liked the cover art; if you’re familiar with the book, please comment and tell me what you think), and finally, My Antonia by Willa Cather. I just finished My Antonia and I must say that it is by far one of the best books I’ve ever read, engaging from the first line. From the foreward, by Walter Havighurst: “It tells of young persons in a young country. Jim Burden had come from Virginia, the oldest region in America, and Antonia Shimerda had come from Bohemia, the oldest country of central Europe. both were awakened by moving at an early age from an old country to a new. The lives of both began again, on the wide Nebraska prairie…” It’s an amazing book. PLEASE read it. I can’t really describe it myself.
In other news, our ceiling is still not fixed. See pictures of disaster in older post. AND, Keith and I are both training for the 2008 Tulsa World Route 66 Marathon. I’m taking it easy and just running the quarter marathon. Keith, on the other hand, wants to run the full. So far, I can make it to 3.25 miles a few times a week. Keith ran over eight the other night. Check future posts for our progress.
www.sonypictures.com
Keith and I watch a lot of movies. Seriously, we go to the movies every weekend, and sometimes during the week. The majority of the movies we see are comedies, but very few actually make me laugh. I sat through Step Brothers and smiled maybe once. But PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, on the other hand, kept me rolling, no pun intended. If you haven’t seen it, you MUST. It is by far the funniest movie of the summer, and probably the year. I never would have expected James Franco in this role, especially after such a serious flick like Anapolis, but he did an amazing job. I’m sure co-starring alongside Seth Rogen helped him out, but he has his very own comedic talent. And for you ladies, James Franco is so hot in this movie. I didn’t find him that attractive before, but what can I say, the scraggly long hair and pajama pants look really does something for me. I am now a fan. Although it’s a stoner movie at heart, I think smokers and non-smokers alike will love Pineapple Express. Hey, I don’t smoke, and I thought it was fabulous.
And check out this trailer. I loved the song so much I downloaded it to my iTunes.
Updates: 1) Our ceiling is still torn to hell. No new drywall. No progress. 2) Found a dead black widow outside on Friday morning, and then found a dying one outside on Saturday morning. The count is up to nine now.
Now on to the good stuff. I had one of the most fabulous Saturday yesterday. There was no rush, no working, nothing but relaxation and fun. As I’ve mentioned before, I collect everything. In the three years that Keith and I have been dating, he’s been quite understanding of my quirky behavior and my constant need to hoard everything from antique bottles to marbles and even rocks. Yes, rocks. Still, it’s a rare occasion when I can actually drag him to a good junk shop with me to endure the hours-long forage into blissful junkdom. However, in honor of our three-year dating anniversary, we spent most of Saturday doing just that. We found this awesome antique/junk store, and I scoured every inch of it. I entered with the intention of finding Japanese ceramic dogs and antique keys. These are both items that were left to me by my junk-loving grandmother, so I thought it would be easy to expand these collections. Just in case you’re wondering, Japanese dogs are crudely-painted little ceramic or porcelain dogs that typically fit in the palm of your hand. They were mass-produced, exported to the U.S. and sold in cheap little five and dimes. Those marked on the bottom with “Japan” or “made in Japan” were likely produced in Japan pre-WWII. It’s my understanding that those marked “Made in Occupied Japan” were produced right after the war, when the U.S. placed a really strict exporting policy on Japan. I’m no antique expert, but I’ve done my research. Anyhow, when we finally found the Japanese dogs, they weren’t as pretty as the ones I have at home. Many of them had half-painted faces or were just plain ugly. So I left them alone. Several months ago, I declared to Keith that I was going to start collecting pie birds. Pie birds are ceramic birds that are used to release steam from a pie during the baking process. They are typically black with yellow beaks, but I’ve seen some interesting ones online and in books. They look so sleek and pretty, and I’m sure a collection of them would be cool. So when Keith pointed one out in the antique store, I was thrilled. I may have overpaid a tad, but it’s the first one in my collection, and I just had to have it.
After we left the antique store, we went to Target, another of my favorite places, and we bought an ice cream maker. The tank part is freezing at the moment, but should be ready shortly. I’ll post on that later…
