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 |  My Blog. Generally Intended for Reading-Not Eating!. |
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Rose-Tinted Ramblings ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** A Little of What You Might Expect & A Lot of Everything Else that You Don't!. My writing style for my blog is invariably 'snarkastic'. This is because I am a nice, unassuming and quietly-spoken person IRL-and this blog is where my innermost moments and torments happen. Trust me, I am no exception to that delightful rule. Greetings! Welcome to my THIRD blog here on WDC. A re-incarnation of my earlier version of my Blog, here "Insanties and Sensibilities" this v.03 should prove to be equally...challenging and hopefully, entertaining. That said, life often weaves through our writing in mysterious ways, and this Blog will probably prove to be no exception to that. We are very likely all quite different, yet the same, us writers and our collective little whims, fascinations and insecurities. |
| March 14, 2009. Whether the Weather be: 45 (F) Cloudy with showers. Events of Note: A snippy, soggy Saturday. In the Nudes: Gore predicts new climate deal.  I so appreciated Raina Kelley’s article in the latest issue of Newsweek:”Octomom Hypocrisy-What Our Outrage over Suleman says about us.” (Newsweek/March 10, 2009) Kelley points out, and rightly so, in my opinion, that we are constantly daring the needy and vulnerable to shock us: all while we watch-much as they make us crazy and bring out the plain mean-spirited and judgmental in us. In addition, I find it interesting that in a country that prides itself so raucously and highly on values of democracy and freedom, that we can suddenly turn around and tell someone how many children that they can or cannot have. Be careful what you wish for. Stones and glasshouses, anyone?. As a utilitarian, I sometimes find myself on the outer of the predatory and self-interested nature of what is ‘mainstream’ in most everything. Hence, my love/hate fascination with the media. There’s quite a difference between being informed, and being ‘spun’ and you don’t need to be in the industry to appreciate that fact-although, I once was, back in my rosy youth.  "Beanie" is being a sensitive soul at present. You just have to look at her a little differently and the poor little girl bursts into tears. She has been clinging to both sweet hubby and me like a lost limpet. I suspect that it's because our routine has changed yet again, and my husband is now working nights at the restaurant:3:00pm-11:00pm, six nights a week. She has just named our new little girl guinea pig, "Girl"-naturally, as one does. Makes infinitely perfect sense. Children tend to make those types of decisions with incredible clarity yet simplicity. Were it that adulthood would be that uncomplicated.  As I recently explained to Scarlett, only in our house, will my husband strike a suspicious "deal" with me. The day that he went out after work (supposedly) to the hardware store to buy the promised paint for our kitchen, did he mention something about going to Costco to look for a replacement DVD player. After two hours, he called me at home. He's called me at home four times in the entire five years that we've been married, so I immediately knew that 'something' was up. He said that he was standing in front of a big-screen TV that had a 40 inch big, flat screen. Now, he's been eying these TVs for...well, five years, approximately, on and off-waiting for the price to come down to a justifiable and affordable point. Neither of us watched much TV growing up, so it's definitely a high-end luxury and not a need. Also, neither of us has ever owned our own TV-it's always been secondhand, borrowed, or gone without altogether. He very tentatively, in a remarkably timid voice, asked my permission to bring it home. I agreed. He had the cash savings, so as far as I was concerned, he could have his new television. Only, it (the TV, that is) suddenly morphed into a whopping 48 inches between the store and home (wonder how THAT happened?). He explained that he just had to 'upgrade'  . In exchange for his 'help' in painting our kitchen. I had to have a quiet chuckle to myself. I'm not begrudging him his flashy entertainment toy at all. Besides, it's OUR toy, especially since I've managed mastering the new remote far more than he'd anticipated, lol. You might want to ask him how he managed to pull that one off, when he begins his blog, here, lol. Great introductory chatter!. Now-if only I could buy myself a new bag...  I know-I'll call hubby at work and ask him!.  |
| March 11, 2009. Whether the Weather be: 39 (F) Frosty and fine. Events of Note: Out of hibernation. In the Nudes: Northern Ireland reunites against dissidents.  Difficult times and circumstances sometimes means that all sorts of weirdness becomes magnified. Our little household has not been exempt from that, either. Granted, we're not multiple birth single parents, nor are we a once-vilified celebrity who is living out her impending death in the public gaze...and nor are we ranting on how the world is rapidly descending into socialist self-destruction....we are simply ordinary people who are trying our very best to do perfectly sane, rational, reasonable and non-extra-ordinary tasks. For preference while being left alone to manage for ourselves. From time-to-time, some self-pity is understandable, but even that wears thin with me. I shed a few silent tears yesterday, in the midst of starting to watch, "Harvey Milk". We are facing some daunting health difficulties, but, based on years of experience, I think that how we choose to forge on, will really make a difference. I can either choose to sit around bawling, or I can choose to press on. I've only sadness for people who say that they, "Don't have time to do-----". Make the time to do. How hard is it?. I guess a lot depends on what you consider to be your priorities.  Our kitchen is now painted. We managed it, together, in less than half a day. Two different yellows It looks remarkably fresh and cheerful, and a lovely contrast with a lot of my blue and violet ceramics which are now finally on display in our kitchen dresser. We gave Beanie a wall all her own, and her own, personal paintbrush, and she loved it!. There are a few touch-up wall areas still needing doing, such as around the dishwasher and the stove, which will be gradually seen to in the next little while. I watched a quirky little UK film last night-"Happy Go Lucky" that made me think of our delightful friend, Scarlett. I watched it while drinking a cuppa of PG Tips Tea!. |
| March 06, 2009. Whether the Weather: 46 (F)/7 (C) Patchy cloud, showers and sun. Events of Note: Getting better?. Squeaked too soon. In the Nudes: Zimbabwe PM's wife killed in car accident (?) Yesterday, I was bored, so I automatically assumed that I was progressing, albeit, slowly. It seems that I've since developed a major head-cold on top of my bronchitis, just to top everything off nicely. However, despite my pounding head, and sappy sinuses some significant progress is being made on the household renovation. Alongside acquiring new civilized 'tools' such as a 45 piece cutlery set, including added extras such as a sugar spoon and a butter knife, and fresh linens, I've been preparing for my husband to paint our kitchen this weekend (if I can catch him in the mood to do so, lol). He somewhat rather too excitedly announced that we could simply re-locate our kitchen furniture out on to the back porch and cover it securely with a tarp. I'm feeling less sanguine about leaving our antique kitchen hutch out in all weathers, and besides, it's enormous and heavy, to boot. Besides, there's only one of him, and about 25% worth of yours truly at the moment...I've been waiting all of my married life (5 years, this year) to get our kitchen and downstairs living room re-situated and decorated, so I'm determined that now it has to happen!. Edited to Add:-I now have quite a headache and am feeling really very drained, so, I'll be resting up until my dear husband comes home from work (early afternoon). After all, I did work on that kitchen until 1:00am, then was woken at 10:00am by the FedEx delivery man with yet more household additions. My in-laws arrive home this weekend, from living five months in South East Asia, so we hope to have a happy reunion with them, health permitting. My BIL arrives in SF from Brussels next week, and we hope to see him, too. Cost-cutting means that we'll probably have to re-think our usual late Winter beach house arrangement for family gatherings that we indulged in, last year. I'm running a tub with some Vapobath, and hope that will help my aches and chills. I have a huge pile of books that I need to move downstairs on my butt, -BUT, they can wait!. It's Friday, folks... |
| Australia Review of “Australia” (2008) Director: Baz Luhrmann Starring: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham, Bryan Brown, Jack Thompson Featuring: Brandon Walters. Approx Run Time: 180 minutes. My first knowledge of this epic film came from an extensive interview that I saw recently with the director and co-screenwriter of this film, Baz Luhrmann, on "Charlie Rose". Mostly, I remembered Baz for his flamboyant film, “Moulin Rouge” and for his sparkling advertising campaign for CHANEL-both of which featured Nicole Kidman in central roles. Another foretaste of the impressively vast scale and scope of this adventurous drama of the Western film genre can be gained from looking at the promotional website for the film (http://www.australiamovie.com ), which allows for the viewer to look at different perspectives of key elements of the film, in full-screen glory, with accompanying soundtrack. In truth, the website is more stunning, in some essential and gritty ways, than the film itself. Set in the Northern Territory of Australia, just prior to WWII, where an English aristocrat inherits a sprawling and run-down cattle ranch from her philandering, then, soon-to-be- dead, husband. She then trusts in her stock-man to protect her property from an ongoing takeover plot. Against the odds, she then works alongside her farm workers to drive 2,000 head of the ranch’s cattle across the “Never-Never”-outback of the recently colonized and unforgiving Darwin territories. The central plot is woven into and set against the background of two, key historical events in post-colonial Australian history. Firstly, that of the “Lost Generation”-an official government policy where half-caste or “cream” Aboriginal children were taken from their parents and ‘re-educated’ by white colonial missionaries, for the purposes of extracting their “blackness” [sic]. This policy continued until 1973 (Source: “Australia”). Secondly, that of the Japanese bombing of Darwin, which takes up a good portion of the final third of the whole film. The cinematography fittingly and flawlessly captures the expansive, yet, mysterious and mercilessly deceptive beauty of some of Australia’s best outback settings. At times, it is almost as if the scenery becomes a romantic interlude and bi-cultural experience in of itself. To me, Nicole Kidman came across as being flaky and slightly overacted throughout this film. Her English accent often gave the impression of being overly forced and strained in places, although she seemed to overcome her self-imposed inferiority complex in one of the critical cattle droving, action scenes. David Wenham further extended his villainous repertoire to good effect, while Hugh Jackman combined rugged good looks and classic monosyllabic, Aussie dialogue to robustly round out the tragic triangle. Seasoned and glittering Hollywood stars aside, the real standout performance was that of the child who played “Nullah” (Brandon Walters). His child-like narration cuts swathes through the hype and adds a lot of cultural illumination to the film as a whole. In addition, Eddie Baroo's portrayal of the "Magic Man", King George, is also of note. While reliant a little too heavily on conventional plot and thematic elements, this film has other endearing attributes which make it a worthwhile look. It rambled a bit, and perhaps over-extended itself beyond the grasp of the director at times, as is evidenced by the often dis-connected editing of the storyline. This is a lovely film that reminds me a lot of similar, contemporary epic efforts, such as Titanic and Pearl Harbor . Not bad, not spectacular, but still a fair effort, in my opinion. Sources: www.imDb.com, www.australiamovie.com. |
| March 03, 2009. Whether the Weather be: 48 (F) Stormy. Events of Note: Update from the sick-room. In the Nudes: Wind threatens Australian firefighters. Had not yet experienced liquid Nyquil until this particular illness, and it successfully stones me out-mostly. Yesterday, at 2am, my dear husband visited the ER for an emergency albuterol and 02 treatment by mask. Reactive airways with  difficulties. Nonetheless, according to him, I'm doing worse than he is. Bacterial bug of mine is back and back...and back. Meanwhile, Beanie is perfectly healthy (thankfully). I've been lurking here in somewhat short-lived re-appearances. I'm about to watch the epic film, "Australia"-which is three hours long-that is, if I can concentrate for any of it. Apparently, it went down like a sad sack in Aussie, and Nicole Kidman, who stars in the movie, was sick about it, so we'll soon see.  Dear husband is back working at the sushi bar tomorrow, so it's all hands on deck. Still, more of a routine may prove to be good. |
| February 26, 2009. I've just spent most of the day in the nearby E.R. Diagnosed with acute tracheal bronchitis. So, it's fluids, rest and meds for me-and I won't be here much for at least the next week. Gotta focus on staying out of the E.R. Love to All, ~A. |
| February 18, 2009. Whether the Weather be: 46 (F) Cloudy, light rain. Events of Note: Pampering with no push-ups, today.  In the Nudes: Drunk man wins settlement from NY Transit. Beanie is in Don't Draw On The House timeout, again. Not green lipgloss, this time, but day-glow yellow highlighter and painstaking purple particulars on her playroom walls. So, it was mildly ironic that my sweet, insightful husband's movie selection for "Beanie" tonight, was "Harold and The Purple Crayon." What next?. Chocolate box compositions?. Seriously, it really doesn't matter, that much, because she's contented and loved. On the subject of purple, my promised lavender lipstick was so...unusual...as to be unwearable. At least, for me, even in my more gothic moments.  That's it for tonight, I'm afraid. My head is a little fuzzy, and my cough still lingers. I had to forgo push-ups, today, after the first ten or so. Too aggravating for my lungs. I'm still writing my New Zillund entry for Ken. Good things take time, lol. I sense a tub bath running, with peppermint oil and manuka honey. |
| February 17, 2009. Whether the Weather be: 51 (F) Partly sunny, with intermittent showers. Events of Note: Still navigating In the Nudes: Bushfire death toll hits 200. I've not been here much-well, on and off. Been sidetracked/sideswiped by sickness, new routines, various household distractions and other assorted anomalies. Not many people realize nor understand that I spend a good couple of hours each day, working out and keeping to a strict physical exercise regimen - to maintain and keep my basic mobility. I do this almost exclusively at home. Many of my exercises, I learned and re-learned from the age of seven. After thirty years, you'd think I'd have gotten bored, or fallen away, but, I'm slightly obsessive compulsive that way. Unfortunately, since residing here in the U.S, my waist-size has far exceeded the daily depletion of my brain cells, through my comforting consumption of sweet treats, orange mochas and Ben and Jerry's. Oh, and bacon, which is still a [fat}al fascination, partly because when I was pregnant with "Beanie" I ate 12 rashers of maple bacon, deep fried, per day, and guzzled two gallons of full-fat milk, a day. No surprises, that Beanie, predicted to be a moderately-sized 7lb baby, arrived in at 9lbs, 2.10ozs-and 22 inches long. Interestingly, I don't drink milk at all, now, but the bacon adoration has most assuredly endured. Oink. So, I was all set to be economically stimulative today, by running out and purchasing some new weight-training equipment with some of that brilliant money that the government took less of from us, this year...only I woke up with something akin to a virulent viral illness. Not anything major. Merely a hacking cough and turbulent tummy. My delightful, sweet husband who underwent a surgical procedure last week, is now reconsidering his miraculous recovery, and has called in 'sick' today. "Beanie" has had an especially tearful, conflicted and emotional day. With recent rainstorms and cold temperatures battering our part of CA for the past four days, everyone is experiencing a bit of belated cabin fever, I think. Well, here I am, and since I'm here (as opposed to 'somewhere there'), I'd better go and see what's been happening in bustling, blossoming Blogville. Have a tremendous, atypical Tuesday!. EDIT: Beanie is livid because I got her birth-weight incorrect-she was actually 9lbs 10.2 oz. My apologies, petal. Far be it from me to underestimate my daughter's BMI |
| February 12, 2009. Whether the Weather be: 36 (F) Rainy. Events of Note: Difficulties of being bright but lazy with it. In the Nudes: Urgent fire threat to Healesville, Vic. Suddenly stormy Winter weather here, has sapped my motivation majorly. My husband's surgery went well, and he is home recovering-if you can call re-constructing our front fence, recuperation. He mentioned that his medical procedure was way over-rated in terms of aggravation, however he's still rather well medicated at the moment-two Viccodin and a Xanax. My BIL showed up this morning and trimmed everything on our front fence, back, off, and away from our side of the street. "Someone" had complained, and the City wrote to us, citing a sight obstruction-the same 'someone; who made unsubstantiated complaints to the City about us, last year. It's aggravating, but not really worth stressing over. Because there's a complaint, the City has to act on it.  With sleet sprinkling down outside, it's a perfect opportunity for being inside and beginning Spring clearances. Especially "Beanie's" toys. She has an entire upstairs playroom, now. I've yet to locate my missing friend in Vic, Australia. All that we can do is hope for the best possible outcome. In the meantime, Healesville is under immediate threat. |
| It is a bitter pill to think that a Pastor from "Catch The Fire Ministries" has blamed the bush fires in Victoria, Australia, on Victoria's pro-life/decriminalization abortion legislation. While the Pastor is entitled to his views, and to his credit, has been assisting with relief efforts, his timing is poor, despite the Pastor claiming that he put a lot of thought into his media statement on the provocative subject. Apparently, he feels duty-bound by a need to share with Australians what he refers to as being "the truth"-which I might point out, is the truth according to him and his beliefs Clearly, the Pastor has an agenda. Still, there is a time and a place for everything. Gosh, even as I type this blog entry, Victoria is still threatened by numerous active fire fronts as I write, and the media feel more compelled to focus on this man and his viewpoints... I have a dear friend living in Victoria who is presumed to have burned to death in their car, and meanwhile this religious man wishes to apportion blame to the State of Victoria for being a "baby killing" state?. He needs to save saving souls and offering salvation for a more respectful moment and forum. That's all I have to say, tonight. I feel very conflicted and angry, on many levels. I'm off now to respond to comments, here-my apologies for being so absent. I have not been in the mood for much at all at the moment. |
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