NYR: Blog more!

Amongst the many (well, not too many this year, considering the fact that the more NYR you make, the more you're not likely not fulfill all of them well. at least for my case) New Year Resolutions for the sunshine 2010,

one of them is to blog more.

yes, i can sorta sense you guys nodding in agreement.

if you take a scroll down the page, on the right side where the previous posts are, you can see that my blog can get as pathetic as 5 posts per month, or worse still, 1 post in a month.

had been a busybee for the past year, therefore, one of my goals this year is to slow down, and really cherish everything and eveyone i have around me. and that includes the wonderful cyberspace.

this is melody's fav photo of me..though i feel that my hair looks kinda flat here.

gonna be spending one night by the beach with the family.
what a great way to start the year :)

better things are ahead i'm sure! excited for 2010!
woohoooo~
*group hugs

love, careen.

New Year

New Year’s Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. – Mark Twain


It’s New Year’s eve. I’m home, and not going anywhere. It’s not that I’m anti party – far from it. Ask me next week and I’ll be there. Just not tonight. A dozen years ago tonight a friend was killed in a head-on collision. That was enough for me.

So I’m here instead of there.

I spent most of today thinking about this past year. Thumbing through old theatre programs and notes, I submitted a “year-in-review” article to a theatre website, and in the process I’ve revisited more than just shows.

This past year I was often angry. I can see elements of this in my writing. I have no idea where it’s leading. But I’m aware …

There were times when I reacted but should have been quiet. There were times when I was silent and should have reacted. This year I’ll try to have less fear and more resolve.

I need to tell my friends more that I love them. They know, but I need to say it more often.

There are those with whom I have no future. I need to let go.

I’d love to win the Pulitzer prize for literature. This would be a good year.

I need to finish the projects I start – at least more of them.

And that reminds me. I think I’d like to do something new this year. Maybe I’ll run for governor of Alaska. I meet the qualifications. I’m breathing.

Or I could just run away with gypsies. That’s been on my short list for years.


jb

Holiday of Happy

Tis the night before New Year's
I'm beginning to fidget
Not a creature is stirring
Not even a m...ouse.

Actually, all the creatures are stirring and getting out their pots and pans and chilling bottles of sparkly beverages. I'm completely holiday partied out - just laying low with my loin fruit and man-I-am-dating-but-not-going-to-write-about.

Forgive the 10 days of silence. I have been hiding out on the island of misfit toys nursing my holiday overwhelmed, burned out, in a serious sugar coma self. This Christmas was probably the best, but most exhausting, I've had in years. And this was the year that my smart assed, cynical despite all that I believe, self got a shot in the arm of the miraculous and determined that, yes Virginia, there is a Santa Clause after all.

A few days before Christmas, the kids and I had just gotten home after a loooong day of shopping when the doorbell rang. On our porch stood two children I had never seen before holding a ginormous basket filled with Christmas Love. They said the basket was for me. I didn't believe them.

"Sweeties, I think you have the wrong house."

"No," (giggling) "This is for you."

"Um, who are you?"

(Pointing behind them) "We live over there."

"And this is from you?" (Looking around the parking lot) "Where are your parents?"

"We're just supposed to give this to you."

"But I don't even know you. Is this from your parents?"

(More giggling) "We're just giving this to you."

"Thank you so much, but I think you need to ask your parents if this is the right house."

They just stared at me.

"Are you sure you have the right house?"

"Uh-huh."

I was still not convinced but didn't know what else to do. I thanked them and my kids grabbed the basket. I instructed them NOT to open anything because in about 5 minutes there was going to be a knock on the door and some poor, embarrassed strangers were going to apologetically ask for it back.

They pulled out an envelope with my name on it. Now I was thoroughly confused. "Wait, it really is for us?" Kids ripped open the card and out fell an American Express gift card for not a small amount of money. My mind started racing and finally took in the contents of the basket. Rolls, a ham, cookies, bags of amazing candy and nuts, chocolate up the wazoo... Who would / could do this? Was it the local ward who had chosen the naughty, single ex-Mormon mom to Secret Santa in an attempt to get her back to church? My eyes fell on a bottle of champagne. Nope. Not the Mormons.

There was another card. I opened it and out fell cash and another handful of Am Ex gift cards in equally not small amounts. The card read, simply, "You are loved by MANY."

How do I even begin to express how that felt? I can't. How can I thank those that blessed me anonymously? Again, I can't. I have my strong suspicions but won't leave my seat at the magic show to rush backstage, shake the crew by the shoulders and demand to know how the trick was done. It doesn't matter. It was done. And it was magical. And it made me deeply happy.

Talk about catching the Emily Vision.

God bless them. Every one.

Surprise - Snow!!!

Last night the weather people said that we would most likely wake up to some icy streets. If there was snow it would be farther out west.

I woke up this morning at 6:50am to the sound of a shovel scraping against the pavement. I quickly sprang to my feet, threw open the sash, and show a fat little man and eight tiny reindeer. Oops, wrong story. I awoke and peeked behind the honeycomb blinds and looked out the double-paned Anderson windows and saw that it had snowed.

I went downstairs and looked out the front door and saw that we got about 2 inches of snow and ice. So we live way out west? And they say that we may get more of the same tonight. Icy streets or more snow?

One of my friends posted on Facebook "Where did all this snow come from?" My retort? "the sky!"

If I did my job as accurately as the weathermen, (or is it weather people?), I would have been fired a long time ago.

Ganley loser of the year?

According to the Sunday Business Post

The Loser of the Year award has many potential candidates.

One that brings a smile to a cross-party array of faces is Declan Ganley. Some day we might know where his money came from, what he spent campaigning or what he stood for. Certainly, his ability to attack opponents and dig around in the dirt for tactics will be hard to match. His doubleheader of defeats in the European elections and Lisbon were spectacular. http://www.sbpost.ie/commentandanalysis/its-the-awards-ceremony-politics-has-been-waiting-for----46415.html

The Sunday Business Post notes the smear politics employed by Libertas and the fact that there may be questions still over Libertas funding. You bet!

Blah.

I must say that I have been missing my ole blog here. But, honestly, the reason I've been absent is because it's quite depressing being down here in my art studio, which is where my computer & WhiMSy love headquarters are located. These pictures show the images that I see every day when I walk down here to the basement. What a friggin' mess. It's gonna take too much energy {that I don't have right now} to get this place cleaned & organized. I'm afraid to go near those nasty boxes. They are just spewing with bits of this & blobs of that.

It's been really hard having most of the house unpacked, but then MY stuff gets put on hold so I can make breakfast, make lunch, make dinner, do dishes, buy groceries (in Timbuktu), make beds, hang pictures, do laundry, fold clothes, referee fights, help kids with homework, go to meetings, answer phone calls, entertain children, clean the house.....Shall I go on? By the end of the day, when the kidlets are in bed, I do not have the patience or energy to attack MY mess or address MY list of things that need done. So it sits, & grows. (I swear it grows).

My space is not complete, organized & happy; therefore, I do not feel complete, organized & happy.

I feel very restless & frustrated due to the messy mess here. So last night I had a good cry, a motivating email from my best pal on the planet & a heart-to-heart with the hubby & I'm good to go.

Mr. WhiMSy love is keeping the kids out of "Mommy's Zone" this morning & again for most of the day Saturday. In fact, Zoey (my 7 year old) eagerly volunteered to make make Pazely (her 5 year old sister) breakfast this morning. 

It's gonna be a good day. (After I clean up that mess in the kitchen.)

Thanks for letting me spew. I do that sometimes.

♥

That's What Friends Are For

Okay. Here's the story - listen up.

(Listen up? Listen up?! Where did that come from?)

Anyway ...

I needed some decor for a play some years ago. Was driving down the street when I saw this tacky clock in a bucket of junk at a yard sale. The guy wanted fifty cents and couldn't look me in the eye when I bought it.

After the play closed, my best friend in the world admired the clock, and for years it hung in his living room, daring somebody to say something.

Eventually the thing moved to my den. I've looked at it for several years now. I'm accustomed to seeing it. It scares me. I think I might be starting to like it.

Okay, here's where you come in.

I'd like to restore it to it's original tacky glory. I think it is supposed to have columns on the sides - holes are there. And on the top a broken cherub once perched. But I can find NO information anywhere. I need somebody to tell me what I need and possibly where to get it.

Other than burying the thing in the back yard, does anybody have any experience with this sort of thing?

jb

R.I.P WWC ...

So the Christmas season is over. Finally. And just like that it’s suddenly creepy if I put on a red suit, hang out at the mall and let little girls sit on my lap. Weird, huh?

It’s kind of strange. For 11 months out of the year, parents teach their kids not to talk to strangers and how to know if someone it touching you when and where they shouldn’t. But all of the sudden like, the day after Thanksgiving parents are taking their kids to the mall and putting them on the lap of a homeless man making $50 a day plus free lunch who smells like Wild Irish Rose and stale urine. Weird.


Anyway, time for WWC again! …


(click for a link to see everyone who plays regularly)

You can join WWC here, or on Facebook or on Flickr.

Brought to us by the creative and cool Tink, formerly of Pickled Beef. This weeks word's are "Seven" and "Photojournalism."

Also, last week’s words were Bear and Out of Place.

Bear Creek Springs…


One of these places is out of place cause it’s kind of mean to put a donut place right next to a Curves…


The Pink Party Girls Limo looks a little out of place on the road …



Snow was kind of out place on the first White Christmas here since I was Seven…


Okay, so it was only a little dusting of snow and we’ve probably had a white Christmas since I was seven. Whatever. Work with me here people.



The most consistent thing about this blog over the almost FOUR YEARS, other than its lameness and a rather creepy fascination with Giada de Laurentiis’ glorious and mesmerizing cleavage has been my participation in The Weekly Words Challenge.

The WWC was originally created by a dude named “Odd Mix.” I was reading his blog and visiting the people who first participated in WWC and thinking that it looked like fun. Then when Tink joined I decided I should too. After a while Odd Mix had less and less time to blog and asked Tink if she would take over the WWC. She agreed and has done a wonderful job of hosting ever since.

My first WWC entry was on May 22, 2006. You can go back and see it RIGHT HERE.

Next week will be my 134th entry in the WWC. And my last.

After two terrific years of hosting the WWC Tink has decided to bring it all to an end. In an effort to keep it alive, she asked me if I would like to take over hosting duties. I considered it for a bit but decided that I too was ready to move on.

I’ve considered doing different things with this blog. Possibly making it more focused and even a “theme blog” of some kind. I even considered moving it to a new location, maybe Word Press, and giving it a new name. But, I think that’s much to confining for me and I couldn’t come up with a new name that I liked. So, for 2010 I think the only change I’m going to make is to end my participation in the WWC. Tink has decided to leave the WWC page on Facebook up and if someone wants to jump in there and post a challenge they are welcome to do so. Maybe I’ll play along if I feel like it.

So anyway, I want to thank Odd Mix for starting the WWC and Tink for her awesome hosting abilities over the last almost three years. And I want to thank everyone else who played along with us. Y’all are some pretty damn creative and talented folks.

The words for the last WWC are Five and Red

Vintage Lingerie Ads: Part 33

Circa 1951

Abandoned Lot in Eldersburg?

I had heard that a diner was going to be built on the corner of Route 32 and Route 26. Was it a Double-T Diner? I thought it was, but cannot find anything on the Internet about it. And that lot has been sitting for a while and it is an eye-sore. It has a 7 or 8 foot chain-linked fence surrounding it. The owners need to do something about this. This may look okay in Randalstown, but this is unacceptable in Eldersburg.

So then I went to the Maryland Property Database. I found the address for Exxon since it is the next lot and it was 1305 Liberty Road. So then on the database I find that there is no 1307 Liberty Road, but the next one is 1309. It is owned by Liberty Bell Properties, care of Linda Sawczyn of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Doing a Google search of her I find that she donated $2300 to John Edward's Presidential campaign in 2008. I'm not sure if this was before or after he admitted he was having an affair while his wife while she was battling cancer. But I do know that this was during the time that he was busy suing doctors in North Carolina. He's saving the people while eliminated their doctors and driving up health care costs.

Unfortunately, that's all that I can find of her. I'm not sure if she's the owner of that plot of land, but I'll dig more and find out. If you know something more I'd love to hear!

Real life sketches

Of course the claw is from imagination:

My hand:

Real life sketches

Of course the claw is from imagination:

My hand:

Foto Set of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

Photo of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian who authorities say tried to bring down Flight 253, a Delta Airlines jetflight from Amsterdam to Detroit.


After graduating from college in London, Abdulmutallab moved first to Egypt and then Dubai, where he studied for an MBA before dropping out. It is believed that he ultimately found his way to Yemen, where, authorities think, he learned to make the device he attempted to use to blow up the Delta plane.

Father Alhaji Umar Mutallab, 70, is the retired chairman of Nigeria's oldest bank, First Bank. In October of 2009, he called the American embassy in Lagos to advise them of his concerns about his son, who, he says, had developed radical views and had disappeared, possibly to Yemen.


Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab with other classmates around 2005, he wears a yellow shirt.

Recommended reading:
* antispywarekeypad.com uses Abdul Farouk Abdul Mutallab to phish for victims
* Abdul Farouk Abdul Mutallab almost blow up a Northwest Airlines plane

Who's Reading Vote No'Malley?

I just checked my statistics on Sitemeter.com and someone reached my blog today from Iran by using the search terms "Girls with big boobs". How funny is that?

I get a lot of hits from Washington, D.C. Hi, Mr. President! Are you learning anything?

And from Mount Vista, California. Google - are you spying on me?

Unfortunately I am NOT getting any hits from Annapolis. You'd think O'Malley would be reading a blog with his name on it every day!!! Then again, you'd think O'Malley would do a lot of things and he's just not doing them.

Mt. Airy - Closed on Monday

I decided to use the remainder of my vacation this week and not carry-over the maximum of 5 days into next year. Instead I decided that I would use the time to chase naked women at the adult dance clubs and drink heavily. But then at the last minute I changed my mind and thought it might be a little better for the image if I spend some time with my kids.

I asked my son what he wanted to do and he said go fishing. Since it was 28° and the pond is frozen, I nixed that idea. He then said that whatever we did it couldn't be going to visit another President's house because those are stupid.

My daughter said that she wanted to go to Famous Dave's restaurant and go bowling. I asked my son if he wanted to go with us. He said yes at first. Then he asked if he didn't go to lunch would we come home and get him to go bowling. I said that we would come home go get him and he quickly declined the Famous Dave's part. You need to understand that my son hates meat. He won't declare himself a vegetarian (I don't even think by law he can legally call himself a vegetarian at age 7). He does like chicken nuggets and will occasionally eat fish. He's more of a convenientarian.

My daughter and I left for Famous Dave's. I was salivating the whole way there thinking about eating those marinated pig parts. As we read the menu my daughter asked, "You know what's better than ribs?" "Nothing!" I proudly declared. "Wrong!" she quickly retorted. "More ribs!" Well, okay then!

After we ordered, we were looking around and I commented that our waitress is very pretty, but she'd be even prettier if she smiled now and then. My daughter then said, "I wouldn't smile if I worked here either. You'd be tortured by having to serve all that food and you can't have any." Oh, that apple didn't fall far.

Once we finished our meal we headed back home to pick up my son. Then it was off to Mt. Airy to go bowling. If you are not familiar with Mt. Airy, it's one of those old towns with a Main Street and an interesting historical downtown section that is accompanied by a bypass lined with townhouses and developments. Most people drive on by and don't see what is really interesting.

Mt. Airy Bowling sits on this side street that one would mistake for an alley. Much like the ones where politicians like Martin O'Malley convince their opponents to drop out of races for vague and unsubstantiated reasons.

Driving to the end of this alley-like road I felt a bump and suddenly like we were flying in the Millennium Falcon and the stars blurred and stretched out before us. And in an instant we were in a small town in the late 1950's - and there was the bowling alley.

Anchored by a rusty Coke sign sat the bowling alley. Clad with painted cinder-block walls, this was a vestige to Opie Taylor, Ward Cleaver, and Dennis Mitchell. Inside, it was not quite the 1950's that I would have expected from the outside. Instead, it's late 80's decor. Gone is the Pac-Man machine, but there are the upright video game consoles, smelly bowling shoes, and grumpy employees who hate all things bowling.

We finished our game of duckpin bowling. My son didn't like it too much. If he doesn't crush his opponents then the game is stupid. When we turned in our shoes and paid (they did not accept credit cards), I asked if there were any ice cream places around (even though it was about 32° at this point). The owner looks out over the lanes and scratches his whiskers, then tilts his CAT Diesel hat to the left and says, "Now that I think about it, there isn't a ice cream place in this town." I embellish a little. He was finely dressed, polite, friendly, and wore a polo shirt.

We decided that despite its lack of an ice cream parlor, we would roam the block of downtown historic Mt. Airy. And to my surprise, most of Mt. Airy is closed on Monday. Say what?

So it was back to the car and head for home. Despite the spare time, visiting downtown was a strike. But bowling in Mt. Airy was fun.

Recession beating recipes People Korps's Authentic Irish Stew

Available now in my new cooking column on TOK

http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=73&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=&mforum=tok

Qdoba to Eldersburg

Good news from Eldersburg.net. I cross-verified this in the Baltimore Business Journal. Qdoba is opening a new store in Eldersburg. It will occupying the old Hollywood Video store that's next to the Papa John's on Liberty Road.

I think this is fantastic news. I really like Qdoba. It's no Chipotle, but Qdoba is a good second choice.


Also in the restaurant news, the A&W \ KFC will no longer offer the A&W portion. It will now be a stand-alone KFC. This is a shame because I really like their burgers. But then again I can't remember the last time I went there to get one. The problem with the A&W \ KFC in Eldersburg is that you wait in line for 15 minutes to order, then you stand there and wait another 20 minutes to pick it up. And one time they even told me they had no chicken. Are you kidding me? KFC has no chicken? That's be like the Maryland General Assembly not having any crooked politicians.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to list all of the new stores and restaurants that are coming to the Carrolltown Center, also known as the Dumpster Mall.

The new stores are:

*
*
*

That's right. Nothing. Black Oak Associates has been busy doing a lot of nothing. But then again, we're kind of used to that.

2009: We survived, and so did the cinema

What a glorious year for movies! The good ones found audiences (Hurt Locker) and the bad ones were panned, even by their hardcore fans (Transformers 2). I feel like that’s justice. To finish off 2009, here are the best films of the last year. See you in 2010.

— Michael Clawson

______________________________

10. The Blind Side
Sandra Bullock is a talented actress. She so rarely gets to show that off, though. In The Blind Side, John Lee Hancock’s captivating human drama, Bullock presents the beautiful skills she’s been squandering in rom-com garbage. She plays a wealthy and white Tennessee socialite who plucks a poor and black teen off the street and adopts him. Race is a minor theme, as is football, but the movie has more important messages: it’s about the lengths people are willing to go to help those in need. Blind Side is also exceptionally cast with great performances by country singer Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron and child actors Jae Head and Lily Collins. It should also be noted that Blind Side is one of two movies this year — the other being Invictus — that did something I've been asking from sports movies for years: it showed the action on the football field without using omnipresent sports commentators. Audiences don't need voices to narrate sports, yet it's a Hollywood staple that is rarely ever absent from sports movies.

______________________________

9. Knowing
Instantly perplexing and feverishly debated earlier this year, Knowing was either loved or hated with no room in between. It stars Nicolas Cage as a college professor who uncovers the fate of the universe in a string of numbers pulled from a time capsule. Besides being a convincing thriller, with some horror-type scares thrown in — not to mention a plane and a subway crash that are so realistic they’re scary — the film has actual dogma woven into its philosophical themes. Are events random, or are they part of a grander, more dreadful scheme? Knowing knows, but director Alex Proyas (Dark City) doesn’t bonk you on the head with the answer.

______________________________

8. Coraline/Fantastic Mr. Fox
Stop-motion animation is not going away. In fact, with these two films, it did better in 2009 than hand-drawn animation, which only had one release (The Princess and the Frog). Coraline, about a little girl getting sucked into a fake version of her own world, was creepy and a visual delight. And Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson’s quirky tale about a thieving squab-eating fox, was hilarious and intoxicatingly brilliant. Both films are based on children’s books, but both work because they don’t speak down to children. They speak up to them.

______________________________

7. The Hangover
No comedy from this year can even get close to The Hangover, a rip-roaring comedy powerhouse that sunk its teeth into our funny bone and never let go. Starring a bunch of underrated funnymen — Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Bradley Cooper — the Vegas-set movie told a familiar story: men go to bachelor party, party too hard and then wake up with blurry visions of the previous night. As they retrace their steps the next day they come across Mike Tyson, a tiger, taser demonstrations and overacting goofball Ken Jeong. Classic comedies are few and far between, but this one made it look easy.

______________________________

6. Avatar
I wrote off director James Cameron for more than a decade. Who didn’t, really? But he proved me wrong with Avatar, his long-awaited, super-expensive sci-fi fantasy. Told using massive amounts of computer animation, as well as motion capture suits, Avatar is about a man who uploads his brain activity into the body of an alien being. And as that alien, called a Na’vi, he falls in love (with the sexiest of alien women), becomes a member of the tribe, rides a dragon and redeems his sins when man tries to mine the beautiful planet all this takes place on. The animation is incredible and awe-inspiring, the world is gorgeous, the characters are fully realized and complete, and the action is everything you’d expect from the guy that gave us Aliens and two Terminator films. James Cameron, you’ve proved me wrong.

______________________________

5. (500) Days of Summer
Relationships can get messy. It’s not pessimistic; it’s reality. (500) Days of Summer is the most realistic of romantic comedies, or maybe it’s a romantic drama. Featuring star players Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, Summer is an exploration on how fragile the human heart is, but also how resilient it is. It begins on Day 1 — or is it Day 500 — and jumps around from there to points through the 500 days our stars are in love. But a word of caution: “This is not a love story.” No, it’s so much more.

______________________________

4. Up
Pixar films make the world smile. And Up gives one of the biggest smiles. Carefully animated and expertly orchestrated — from characters and plot to music and laugh-out-loud gags — Up will make you look at the world with warmth and a little bit of adventure. Poor Mr. Ferguson, a widower facing an eminent domain fight, just wants to go to Paradise Falls. So he straps balloons to his house and flies it to South America. A little Boy Scout tags along, along with talking dogs and a female bird named Kevin, and the adventure soars. Up is a pure movie, as are all of Pixar’s movies.

______________________________

3. Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino’s wordy and violent World War II film is a hilarious catharsis for everything that happened between us and the Nazis. Yes, Hitler is killed at the end, as is most of the German high command, but Inglourious Basterds is not meant to be historically accurate. It’s Tarantino’s version of events. Brad Pitt plays Aldo the Apache, a renegade soldier stomping through France butchering Nazis. There are other characters, too: Hans Landa, the sadistic Jew Hunter; Donny Donowitz, the Bear Jew; and Shosanna Dreyfuss, a theater owner who plans to use film stock to decapitate the head of the Nazi party. Over-the-top and ridiculous, Basterds is Tarantino having a blast.

______________________________

2. Up in the Air
Jason Reitman is the next great director. After Juno no one was quite sure what to make of him: one hit wonder or bona fide filmmaker? Here we learn he’s legit, the real deal all the way. In the superbly written Up In the Air, he gives us George Clooney, a man who lives his entire life in airports, rental cars and from his suitcase. He’s hired to fire people for employers who don’t like firing people; and in this economy business is booming. The movie is so much more than that, though: he gets an energetic young apprentice, he falls in love with a female version of himself and he finds his shaky morals thrown off balance by the world that’s changing around him. A movie for our time, Up In the Air is also a terrific portrait of a lonely man.

______________________________

1. The Hurt Locker
I knew Kathryn Bigelow’s realistic and emotionally challenging war movie The Hurt Locker was my favorite movie of the year about 10 minutes into it. And that was in June, before so many other great movies would even be seen. Ignoring all the typical Hollywood action-film rules and choosing actors capable of realistic fear and anger, Hurt Locker stormed out of the gate with raw physical power. It knew what it was about, and it understood its characters in every way characters could be understood. It was about a bomb disposal unit in Iraq, but it’s also about why men and women fight, how they cope, and why they second guess everything when they’re out there exposed to enemy machine gun nests, roadside bombs and sniper fire. This is an important film, a film we’ll be talking about many years after 2009.

______________________________

Honorable Mentions
Here are some films that almost made the list: Steven Soderbergh’s intoxicating sex drama The Girlfriend Experience, the brutally honest Precious, John Hillcoat’s faithful version of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, the awesome Star Trek reinvention, the timely and appropriate military drama The Messenger, and Spike Jonze’s delightfully strange Where the Wild Things Are.

Leçons de Séduction No. 56

Week in Review

What a busy week! Not a lot of photo-takin' went on. (I seriously scrounged for pics!) Christmas preparations were underway all week. Shopping up to the last minute. Making stuff up to the last second. But, I got it all done. Yippee! Later this week I'll have to show better pictures of the crafty creations I made for the girls' Christmas prezzies. I loved the "Want. Need. Wear. Read." gifts & plan on making it a tradition every year.

I had the most lazy, wonderful, chillin', relaxing holiday EVER!! I've enjoyed the mellow atmosphere around our home & plan to extend this mood during the last week of the girls' winter break. I gotta put a stop to all the sweets munchin' though. I have eaten more caramel & chocolate covered pecans than I can count.

Let's see, what else went on last week?....Gingerbread house building. Windy snowy days. I Skyped for the first time. (Tia & I talked once for almost 3 hours. And then we were reprimanded with a Skype curfew!) Filled Etsy orders. Unpacked. Hung pictures. Dreamed of a day when the things in my house will all be put away....

 This week I'll be blasting through the final boxes in my art studio trying to get my space all tidy & neato. (But taking a break now-&-then to play with my newest addiction: Wii!!!)

**17 days until Tia gets here!!**

 ♥

Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

Handbags for summer 2009

The S/S handbags for 2009 is very colorful and bright. The handbag is a fundamental element of a woman’s look. It's a pride, chic and complements a woman’s personality and style. Every woman of fashion will be able to find something that suits her style and taste.

Separated at Birth?

Is it just me, or does the Socialist President of the United States look like DIY Yard Crashers host Ahmed Hassan? Ironically, one of them goes around making things better while the other one goes around making things worse.

jb

Merry Christmas, Lingeristas!

Merry Christmas to all of our dear, Lingeristas!

The following are some Christmas quotes that feel timeless and classic.


"Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart." ~ Washington Irving

"It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air." ~ W.T. Ellis

"Even as an adult I find it difficult to sleep on Christmas Eve. Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine, no matter your age." ~ Carrie Latet
"Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!" ~ Hamilton Wright Mabie

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." ~ Author unknown, attributed to a 7-year-old named Bobby
Images on this post are of Monica, our delightful Eve's Apples lingerie model, who will be gracing our website launching on New Year's Day, January 1, 2010!

Monica showed up to the shoot, wearing an ill-fitting bra and thinking that she was a 36A. After getting her fitted, she was thrilled to see that she's a 32B and looks gorgeous in everything we put her in during the shoot! It wasn't long before she was "Celebrating Her Inner Eve." She looks so spectacular in this red Lucia Plunge Bra (top image) and matching lace boyshorts that I had to send her home in it!

Last year, we had a contest for one lucky winner of this red Lucia bra and panty set by The Little Bra Company. It was the biggest contest turn out still to date! If you like this lingerie set, you can find it on New Year's Day on our new online lingerie boutique dedicated to smaller busted women (bra sizes 28AA - 36B and 32C).

Monica (in the second image) is wearing a white Retro India Bralette by Eberjey. Both panty sets can be found on our lingerie website (http://www.evesappleslingerie.com/) on January 1, 2010.

Have a wonderful holiday, my dear Lingeristas!

People Korps' Greetings

Well it has been an active year and yes we did destroy the Libertas party. However 2010 will see the cadre water themselves down and adhere to the extreme fringes of more main stream groups while they hone their skills. Expect many fronts emerging that profess to be the clean new transparent brand, and expect more issues from the brown shirt grassroots like Taxi Drivers for Change and their various offshoots.

People Korps (himself) thinks that more attention should be given to these "grassroots" movements in terms of reseacrh into their ideolgies and membership.
Having spent several hours lingering amid the striking taxi drivers last year I came away with a clearer understanding of their motives and organisation.

Likewise with Libertas, by rubbing shoulders with them; one gets a stronger sense of who they think they are.

However, I am about to embark on a new direction , aiding in recession survival. I will be providing recipes, shopping hints and recesssion tips on the great (because of the people involved) new Irish political forum TOK

Register now !!!!

I wish you all the best for the holiday season and I will post the first rescipe tomorrow for

People Korps' Authentic Irish Stew. Link active enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the WhiMSy love family!!

Have the happiest of holidays!

♥

Senators Cardin & Mikulski Hate Colleges

We are supposed to be curbing urban sprawl, right? And we have a lot of colleges in the Baltimore \ Washington area, right? Then why did Senator Cardin and Senator Mikulski seek $1 million for a new training center in Mount Airy that will train health care workers and dental hygienists?

After bragging about the her accomplishments in Warshington to help all Merlanders, Senator Mikulski said that the facility will be shared by the community colleges of Howard, Frederick, and Carroll Counties. I'm not attacking the allocation of money to this institutes of a little bit higher learning. However, I question what kind of facility can be built for $1 million. Seriously - houses in my neighborhood go for $500,000, so that would equate to 2 houses. They are going to construct a 5,000 ft facility with 4 parking spots to help train people? Senator Mikulski - is it near the wooder?

Would it not be better money spent to allocate the money to the existing colleges to expand their existing programs at their existing campuses that already do this very same function? Or does that make too much sense? Does Ben get a great thrill out of seeing money burn? I know Cardin and Mikulski need to show off spending money for Maryland. It's better to waste money than to get no money in the eyes of these 2 shallow tax and spend liberal extremist politicians. And we know that these 2 Senators are not good with money after supporting the $200 quadrillion health care plan.

So while Senators Cardin and Mikulski pontificate about being green and saving the environment on even numbered days, be wary of the odd numbered days as these are the ones that are the most destructive.

The Best is Yet to Come...For You!

I had such fun making the spoons & giving them out last Sunday. I have 14 leftover spoons & I'd like to make them available on my blog if you'd like one. Each one will come with the story attached with a ribbon. To order, just click the "BUY NOW" button. The price includes shipping. It won't get to you in time for Christmas of course, but it can be hung year-round---& perfect for the New Year & a symbol of good things to come!
♥

UPDATE: I apologize, I can't seem to get the Paypal "BUY NOW" button to work. If you would like a Spoon, the prices, which include shipping, are:
United States: $7.50
Canada: $8.00
Everywhere Else: $10.

Please let me know if you'd like a Spoon & I will create a listing for you at WhiMSy love. Thank you! Once they are sold out, I will update this post. Thank you!

SIPO report on Irish European election Libertas spend c.500k, Shelbourne/ Legatus's Garrett Kellegher's wife Meave donates to Libertas

Sipo have published their report into the European elections which is an interesting read. Those of you who followed the Legatus Libertas saga on this blog(use google seasrch box on right of screen to search for all posts) will note that Garret Kellegher's wife Meave was a finacial supporter of Libertas candidate Caroline Simons. Libertas candidate Raymond O'Malley failed to give the statutory declaration by the due date and faces having his case referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions should he not make returns by 4 January. Declan Ganley declared no donations.

Ms. Caroline Simons	€2,539.48	Cheque	M C Simons 82 Eglington Road Dublin 4
	€1,500	Cheque	Catherine P McDonald 36 St. Annes Ailesbury Road Dublin 4
	€2,500	Cheque	Gaynor & Co. 35 Baggot Street Lower Dublin 2
	€1,000	Cheque	Fiona Loxley 228 Crodaun Forest Park Celbridge Co. Kildare
	€2,000	Cheque	JM&R Sheehan The Hermitage Cross Avenue Blackrock Co. Dublin
	€1,000	Cheque	John & Maureen Corrigan Ballynare Kilcloon Co. Meath
	€2,500	Cheque	The Irish Chocolate Company Ltd Clonshaugh Business Park Dublin 17
	€2,539.48	Cheque	Maeve Kellegher Herbert Park Dublin 4
	€1,000	Cheque	Catherine White 2 Belmont Villas Dublin 4
	€1,000	Cheque	Aileen McCarthy 33 Wyattville Close Ballybrack Co. Dublin
	€1,000	Cheque	Responsible Society 6 Stoneview Place Dun Laoghaire Co. Dublin
	€2,000	Cash	Mary McCarthy Annadale Falls Road Shankill Co. Dublin
	€1,000	Bank Transfer	Edward Simons 19 Mather Road North Mount Merrion Co. Dublin
	€2,500	Bank Transfer	Deneige Butler 7 Maple Road Clonskeagh Dublin 14
	€2,500	Bank Transfer	Phoebe Butler 7 Maple Road Clonskeagh Dublin 14
	€2,500	Bank Transfer	Abigail Butler 7 Maple Road Clonskeagh Dublin 14
	€2,500	Bank Transfer	Benjamin Butler 7 Maple Road Clonskeagh Dublin 14
	€1,000	Cash	Jennifer Nolan 11 Glenn Ribh Lusk Co. Dublin

Simons election agent was

Mr. John Carlin
Unit 7
Nutgrove Office Park
Dublin 14
Libertas National agent was Declan's brother Mr. Séan Ganley, formarly of Tigris Staffing, Baghdad, and other Ganley companies.
Libertas
Moyne Park
Tuam
Co. Galway


Mr. Raymond O'Malley of
Purcellstown House
Ardee
Co. Louth
agent was
Mr. John McGuirk
Denshaw House
Lower Baggot Street
Dublin 2

While Declan Ganley's agent was his brother
Mr. Séan Ganley
Lisheen
Boyounagh
Williamstown

Co. Galway

Simons spent 135,195.42.

Raymond O Malley spent 160,034.35 with 36, 233.73 coming from Libertas hq..

While Declan Ganley spent 195,154.40 according to SIPO

For a breakdown of all the candidates spending see http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/Reports/Elections/231209-ReporttoCeannComhairlereEuropeanElectionsof5June2009pdfandtextversions/Name,11322,en.htm

Declan Ganley recieved 38,092.14 from public funds as he had achieved enough votes to qualify, the other two Libertas candidates failed to recieve any state expenses due to their abject failure at the polls.

Libertas were the fourth highest spending party in the elecions despite running only 3 candidates and having no party structure to speak of outside of pr men, spin doctors and holy joe fanatics.

Breakdown by party is as follows this link http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/Reports/El...e,11320,en.htm: FF: €1,019,988 FG: € 923,821 Lab: € 532,626 Libertas: € 490,384 SF: € 389,246 Green: €231,199 Non Party: € 364,246 TOTAL: € 3,991,629

Appendix VI Summary of Expenditure by Political parties and their individual candidates at the European elections
ndividual candidates at the European elections

see here


Despite spending nearly half the budget of the two main parties it is reassuring to see that the c.500,000k spent by Libertas did not buy Irish voters, nor did the Libertas smear campaign that passed for an election campaign have broad appeal. The campaign did highlight Libertas's desire for a green card system to be introduced in Ireland that would forse Irish workers to need a Visa to work North or South of the border, in the UK or on main land Europe and its kinks with uktra Catholic, anti-democratic unelected elites


Read the full report http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/Reports/Elections/231209-ReporttoCeannComhairlereEuropeanElectionsof5June2009pdfandtextversions/

CgTalk Daily Sketch 2017 NTL "Avatar Movie Poster: Polish Style"

90 minutes, 60 minutes the drawing, 30 minutes the lame “layout” in ARTRAGE 3.0, still learning the new font procedures in ARTRAGE :

  

CgTalk Daily Sketch 2017 NTL "Avatar Movie Poster: Polish Style"

90 minutes, 60 minutes the drawing, 30 minutes the lame “layout” in ARTRAGE 3.0, still learning the new font procedures in ARTRAGE :

  

Vintage Lingerie Commercials: Part 1 ~ Apple Bra

Before there was Eve's Apples Lingerie and blog there was the Apple Bra, in bra sizes 32A - 36C, that came out sometime around 1980. The video below shows the Apple Bra commercial that circulated on t.v. at the time.

APPLE BRA COMMERCIAL VIDEO

Vintage Lingerie Ads: Part 32

Circa 1949

A much needed update...................

So I signed up for a very necessary 3 x a week personal trainer at the gym. He's kicking my tooshy and I'm loving it!! He told me to stop obsessing about my intake and weight. He said I can't weigh for a month. He's talking to the wrong girl! We'll see how that goes................
So every time I leave the gym I'm soaking wet and thrilled at the progress. This poor guy doesn't know what he's got himself into. There is a large amount of whining and a moderate amount of cussing but he continues to stay positive and motivate me.
I'm currently committed to 3 days of cardio a week and 3 days of weight training. I'll keep you posted!

xxxmaz

Merry Christmas, guys. I'm too tired to say more ;_;