Snap Crackle & Pop!

I have finally found something that Halfpipe likes to eat other than his Totally ferret food! Wonders never cease.

Last night, my most wonderful husband made me Rice Krispy Treats to take to my scrapbook convention this week. We tried giving Halfpipe a bit of the leftover in the bowl...and he liked it. He REALLY liked it.

This is the ferret who won't even try Raisins or ferret treats or even peanut butter, but Rice Krispy Treats...now that's something. I guess that he just has good taste.
I wonder if it's the rice Krispies or the marshmallows that he likes....probably the melted marshmallow and butter....
Figaro would agree that marchmallows are the food of the gods.

Mmmmmmm....bummer...why didn't I bring any to work for lunch?

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Off to CKU in Atlanta today! I was up most of the night because I couldn't sleep. So, guess what...now I'm pretty damn tired. Oh well. I'll be sleeping on that jet plane.
I'm in desperate need for a vacation. Sometimes I just get like that, and this month has been one of them.
Looking forward to spending some time with just paper, ink, paints, and stamps...

Hopefully, the kitty will sleep with Grant while I'm gone...that would be nice of him.

For Lovers, For Dreamers, and Me

This morning, when I was driving out to go riding, at a time that was way too early in the morning, making a drive that's ungodly long....
I saw a rainbow.
Right there on 290.
The truth is, no matter what happens, a rainbow just makes the day magical.

You don't see very many of them here in Houston, TX...I'm not sure if it's because of the climate or the topography, or something else, but I've found it to be a rare occasion.
It reminds you that , yes, there is real magic in the world.

Final Countdown to CKU-A

6 DAYS unil I leave for Atlanta!!!
I can't believe that it's already here! I'm going to be working on an album track with Danelle Johnson, who has the Art Warehouse line of scrapbooking supplies! Woo-hoo! She is way groovy, and she does a lot of stamps and texturizing, etc in her artwork, so I'm hoping to gleen a bit of artistic skill while I'm there!

The album that I'll be doing is called "A Personal Treasury from A-Z" and I have to have photos to represent something that I treasure for each letter of the alphabet. This is HARD! I still don't have a "Y" and I have way to many things for "S" (Stormy, Shakespeare, scrapbooking, snow), "M" (Mom, music, and movies); and "F" (Figaro, Ferrets, friends) See what I mean??

The good news is that I've been able to take the time to play more with my photoshop elements, which I love, and to work on downloading new brushes, etc...
This is a picture that I worked on to try out some of the new ones!

Do you love me? Do you, Surfer Girl?

Well, I'm finally off work today...and had a day to go riding. So I left the house around 8:15 drove the hour and 15 minutes to get to Pine Hill....just to find that Poker's thrown a shoe. Being the wimpy horse that he is, of course he is lame without his shoe...so therefore unrideable. grrrrrr. So, I rode Doc, the green horse that I've been working with lately, and drove all of the way back home.

The long drive is really a pain in the neck, but on the other hand, it does give me time for reflection...which is always a good thing. Today, I was listening to a podcast from NPR for the music stories that they have every week, and there was an interview from "Fresh Air" where Terri Gross was interviewing Dave Alvin...he had recently released a cover album of California songs...very eclectic, and a wide range...but the one that I really noticed was when they talked about his cover of Surfer Girl by the Beach Boys. It was very different hearing this deep voiced folk singer vs. the high pitched Brian Wilson...and it was really cool. And, I'm sure like a lot of people, that song just takes me back....

To me, the Beach Boys always mean summer. I remember driving with my parents and one of my friends out to the Poconos a few times every summer. It was always a requirement that the "pirated, 120 minute every song the beach boys ever recorded and ones that no one had ever heard of before, tape from Saudi Arabia" be playing in the car as we drove there and back. Why? because it was summer...we were going to go stay in the mountains and woods...go fishing, water skiing, white water rafting and basically all of the things one thinks of with a trip out to the lake. Yes, this is all true, and what I think of as its significance now, but really.... It was one of the few musical selections that my Dad, Mom, and I could agree on whole heartedly, and we all knew all of the words. Still...I loved those trips, and I loved singing the beach boys in the car, and I miss those wonderful times with my family, and all of the cool things that you get to do when you're young.

Back to the interview....So, as they were discussing why he had covered Surfer Girl he touched on one point that I really liked. Basically it was that there are so many great songs out there from that time period that everyone has heard a million times and know all of the words to, even if they didn't want to, (I'm thinking back on how many times we played "I Get Around" in band, marching band, jazz band, etc. over that 6 year period of Junior high and high school!) ...and basically what he was saying is that people don't really hear the songs any more. It's just there, they can come on the radio and you don't even notice because they are so normal to you because you've heard them so many times! You don't think about them artistically, or what the song means, or the cool harmonics, etc. They're just catchy and familiar. These songs are really great. They are some of the best stuff ever written, yet now, because they're so familiar, you don't really appreciate them any more.

So....listen to those old Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, Beatles records etc....and pay attention. This was the music that influenced everyone else...pretty amazing stuff... "and we'll have Fun! Fun! Fun! till her Daddy takes the T-bird away..."

And THIS is the day that I will always remember as the day that I saw them almost catch captain Jack Sparrow....AGAIN!

So, we made a second attempt at the Pirates flick and I actually saw the entire film this time!!
Grant is already chomping at the bit, not wanting to wait another year for the 3rd installment. I can't really blame him, but I'd much rather relish in the glory of the second film (Dead Man's Chest). It just made me want to go back and watch the original again. (Which I've already seen several times, but sinc it's gracing my DVD collection...)
Oh! and Elizabeth's wedding gown, had a striking resemblance to my own! It was cream and gold, long sleeves, etc. Great choice. However, they never revealed what her shoes looked like.... I'll have to remember to get another gold gown sometime. I like that combination. And of course, Johnny Depp was amazing as always, and that cute Orlando Bloom guy....so sweet...and honest. (a lot like Grant. : ) Makes me want to watch Lord of the Rings again, which also happens to be gracing my DVD collection.

That was the day that I will ALWAYS remember as the day that I almost saw them almost catch Captain Jack Sparrow

Yes...last night, Grant and I went at midnight to the first showing for opening day of The Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's chest (the sequel). I've been dying for this movie to come out. We bought our tickets ahead of time...but unfortunately, we only got there about 35 minutes in advance...and the theater was packed. We had to sit in the very front row...pretty much on the floor right in front of the screen...not even in the stadium seating part...."savvy?" Oh, and did I mention that it was the "mega theater" or something like that? The screen was enormous. Alas, I quickly started to get motion sickness from watching the movie....unfortunately, this is an obnoxious defect of mine. I can't go to Imax movies either! The parts that I saw when the room wasn't spinning too badly were great! but about 1/2 way through, I ended up having to run to the bathroom to puke...and that was pretty much it. We left. Talk about a bummer.

Lovely, huh? So, we're going to re-attempt, and hopefully this time I will in the words of Captain Jack Sparrow...."try not to do anything stupid."

Drink up me 'earties...yo-ho!

photo attempt

My first attempt at putting a recent picture into my profile....
Who knows if this will work....

Fireworks

Just testing out the new blog. Aren't fireworks just the greatest thing? Big bonus point for living in Texas. All of our neighbors are out lighting off fireworks in the street. Pretty groovy.