A few years ago a movie came out and was release to critical defeat. As for myself I enjoyed the movie except for a few minor problems. I found it to be an enjoyable waste of time (just what I like in most movies).

The movie was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. One of the biggest things that bothered me was the introduction of Tom Sawyer into the movie. On top of that he was a Pinkerton agent. I kept saying to myself, why bring in that character as a detective. Didn’t make much sense to me. Of course Dorian Grey wasn’t in the original comic either, but that didn’t bother me as much.

Then I got my Nook! (Yep, another Nook post. Think I could get money to write reviews for my Nook?) I just finished a short story, from Mark Twain, that I never read or heard of before. The story was called Tom Sawyer, Detective. While he was not a Pinkerton agent, he did use observation to solve a crime. So now after the years I’ve complained about Tom Sawyer being a detective in that movie, I guess that following the path that Twain left, it isn’t that far out into left field.

There is another story that I have yet to read about Mr Sawyer and Mr. Finn called Tom Sawyer Abroad. Tom and Huck are on a balloon expedition in Africa. I guess that allows the trip to England for Tom anyway.

Just one question about the movie, if the film people actually knew about these stories: Where was Huck? 😉

I currently have around 200 books/stories on my Nook. I have read or started to read about 20 of those books/stories. I also have a number of MP3’s. So I do have a wide selection to read or listen to. I can add research books that are available. I have new authors who started by publishing free books. I have old authors whose works are now being digitally archived an made available on the internet. A wonderful array of things to keep this old mind busy.

There is no physical way that I would have been able to read the past few selections in paper. Living in rural America, our local libraries can not be expected to have complete libraries of old classic books, they can’t be expected to have all of the latest authors. And if a book is out of print? How will the get it? That doesn’t even include books that are found only on the web. Stories only found in back issues of old magazines. Nope, I would not have been able to find all of the things I’ve read.

In my lifetime, I’ve had to move a ‘library’ of books from place to place. I’ve moved, my children have moved and we all have had books. A box of 20 hardbound books is heavy. 200+ books would be almost a truckload. I can carry them in the palm of my hand. And I can and will put more books on the Nook. I’m not sure I will ever read all of them, but it will give me something to do.

And I am assuming that in the years to come, more books will be available in electronic format. I will probably still buy books, go to the library or borrow a book or two from friends. Hard copy books and the feel in my hand are things I don’t want to give up just yet. But I’m thinking if the improvements to the reader itself and the books available, I may be able to carry a complete reference, entertainment library wherever I go. I think that is a wonderful thing.

And I didn’t go to a Mexican Restaurant. Other plans (thanks C and L) prevented my normal trek to a Mexican Restaurant today. I had Greek Food. No flaming Goat Cheese, but it was very good. Not that I would have wanted to go to a Mexican place without at least one of my daughters, but in a way I missed the trek.

When plans were made, I didn’t even think that the 5th of May was in the near future. I’m not sure that would have changed anything. I really want to try the flaming Goat Cheese.

Oh the memories of dining out on Cinqo de Mayo. I don’t think we missed many. If we could not afford to go out, most of the time we celebrated at home. Why such a big deal about a Mexican-American Holiday? (not really celebrated much in Mexico) The only reason we had was it was another excuse for eating Mexican food. Not that this family ever needed an excuse. My dear wife’s favorite kind of food was Mexican (*other than chocolate), and we went to Mexican restaurants often. And it did help that the girls never really would mind another meal of Tacos.

So today I had Greek food. I was able to share the company of two very good friends. Nice evening, even without the Flaming Goat Cheese. Other than dinner with my daughters, I could not think of a better way to spend the early evening.

Ah, how things change.

I’m still wondering why we never went to Oriental Restaurants to celebrate Chinese New Years. Could it be that somewhere near the time of that date, we were almost sure to go to a Chinese restaurant? Yep, my birthday is near that day every year, and my favorite food is Chinese food (even better than Chocolate!!)

And why do I keep using the extended title of “Flaming Goat Cheese” for the dish Saganaki? Just because it is more fun to type and say. 😉

and probably never could, but I haven’t seen the TV series.

What am I talking about?

I just finished reading Alexandre Dumas’ book ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’. This is a very long book. It loops here, there and everywhere. Characters have many interactions with others. There are friends, sons, daughters, parents and of course enemies involved. Plot twists abound.

I remember back many years ago, I read this book for High School. It was just after we moved out into the boonies. The house had no heat, it was the middle of the winter and my parents and younger sister were living in a camper. With very little room to move around, reading was the activity of the day. It took me a weekend, plus a day or two to finish the 1000+ page book. I enjoyed it, but all recollection was pushed aside. I saw at least one movie and a TV adaptation of the book and enjoyed those too. I even liked the ‘Mr. Magoo’ version.

I will tell you that as an adult (maybe in name only), I enjoyed this book more than any of the previous encounters with the work. Maybe I got a better translation this time, but the writing was crisp and clear even when the plot was not (and the plot was meant to be foggy).

I knew the story, but was compelled to turn to the next page and read the next chapter. I will recommend this book to anyone with some lonnng reading time they want to fill.

Oh, and the best thing about this. I was reading it on my Nook and I wasn’t trying to hold up pounds of paper. 🙂

I just read that Ernie Harwell passed away. This was expected, since he had an inoperable form of cancer.

I grew up listening to Mr. Harwell on the radio. As a Tiger fan, he was the voice of the Tigers. I would have the game on TV, but the sound would be off and I would listen to the guy on the radio. His strong voice would carry Tiger games over the airwaves of WJR from Detroit.

Of course things change with the Tigers as I grew older, but for the most part the voice was constant. Until one year he was no longer there. He had been let go!! Outrage by Tiger fans eventually brought him back to the booth until he retired. Oh the many good memories he provides me. That old transistor radio hidden under my pillow, just what was needed for those West Coast Series. That same radio hidden at School to listen to day games in the fall or spring. Driving in the evening tormenting my wife and oldest daughter because I had to listen to the game. I grew out of that (mostly) when Ernie left. He was the voice for me.

He retired many years ago, but would visit the booth from time to time. Often in spring training to recite the following:

I never knew what that had to do with baseball, but it was a springtime tradition for Tiger fans.

Sad day in Tiger Town, and in the world of Baseball.

So the last two nights have been dedicated to walking through Miracles.  We were warned that we would be “using book as little as possible.”  However, it was more of a see how much we know with less than 3 weeks to go!  It is so difficult to feel comfortable until we get on the stage.  The VPs do not get the stage until 2 weeks prior to curtain… probably the one thing I do not enjoy with the group.  However, I am really pleased with the amount of memorizing I have been able to do thus far.  I surprised myself.  Still some work to be done there but I was pleased.

Many of the dramatic beats are coming along nicely as well.  Even I can’t believe where they are at this point!  Imagine where they will be in a few weeks.  I’m really going to surprise a lot of people… myself included.  I got a gold star Monday night and heard some “WOW”s from the director tonight.  Even a “Well done, Mr. Shaf.”

I must say that this is my most emotionally draining stage experience to date.  I will definitely be ready for a lighter show very soon.  But I am lovin’ the challenge of the drama.  I wonder if the countdown widget is back!  Time to add one.

I really don’t have much on my mind right now, but I have this urge to write, so here I am sitting at my computer staring at my screen hoping something will pop into my head.

My life is pretty much boring. I usually sit at home by myself because Tony is scheduled to work when I am home and vise versa and Amie is either at work or somewhere else. So I sit at home with my four cats. At the moment, I have most of the windows open and the front door, enjoying the beautiful weather. My kitties seem to be loving it as well. They love to try to steal window seats from each other. If one cat is in a window, the others try to take it. It is so entertaining. Darth loves to try and sneak behind me to get to my milk cup. They are all so cute and lovable.

I guess I will be rambling again, but nothing interesting is coming to my head. I have a movie in and once it’s over, I am thinking about climbing out the upstairs window and reading on the roof. It will be nice to read outside and watch as the cats decide who will be the one to sit in the window and watch me.

I am not sure what to do. When Tony isn’t around I can do things, but I get bored so easily. Maybe if my kittens decided they wanted to cuddle more often. I don’t have very many friends, but I seem to need them to have fun! 🙂 No, not exactly what I mean. There are times I love to be alone, but right now isn’t one of those times. One of those times would be when I am in a mood to clean or take a walk or something, but since I walked home from work, I have no desire to walk, though I would take a walk with Tony. We haven’t walked together for a long time. We did go to the mall last week and walked around there, but that isn’t really the same thing as taking a walk outside, in nature. I guess I’ll always be a country girl even if I am now living in town. I want the country back, the lawn next to the house, not another house. so many wildflowers, rabbits, deer, ducks, frogs and so many other animals running across the yard!

Well, I guess I should go. I think my movie is almost over and then it’s time for some reading, or writing. Not sure which one at the moment. Adios!

Last week I got an email from my friend Carol – she had planned a field trip to the zoo for a ‘Zoo Snooze’ and a few of her students backed out at the last minute.  Since the trip was pre-paid, the spots were paid for, and Carol wanted to fill them – so she thought of me, her friend, the zoo lover, and I of course JUMPED at the opportunity!

I took my two oldest daughters since the age requirements for the trip excluded my 3-year-old Disney and of course my almost 2-year-old, who I wouldn’t have wanted along anyway.  Poor Hubby had to stay home with the little ones, and how I missed him!  (and the little ones)  But other than that –  Best.  Zoo.  Trip.  EVER!!!

Because of legality reasons, my daughters and I were not allowed to ride the school bus with the rest of the group.  So my friend Carol graciously arranged for us to ride with one of her student’s parents who were chaperoning – they were the nicest people!  They were actually going to take their pickup truck, but upon learning that they’d have 3 hitchhikers, they switched vehicles to their SUV without complaint – how accommodating!  We followed the bus to the zoo, and we hiked across the zoo carting our sleeping bags, pillows and backpacks, and I was EXCITED beyond belief!!  We set down our stuff in Nature’s Neighborhood (where the birds were screaming) and walked over to the primate building where we got to watch the primates after zoo hours and listen to a zookeeper talk about her interactions with the primate families.  We then went into the Museum of Science building (this is at the Toledo Zoo, don’t know if I mentioned which zoo it was…) into  a classroom in the basement to listen to a worker tell about 3 animals – a box turtle, a salamander, and a rat (my girls were more than happy to volunteer the info that they had FOUR pet rats at home!).  After listening to facts about the animals, we got to touch them, and I had already promised myself I would touch it no matter what – not a big deal, I love animals, so I don’t have a problem touching regardless of species…  except for my fear of frogs, but had there been a frog, I was going to touch it!  We switched classrooms and did the same thing with 3 more animals: a cockroach, an agama (type of lizard – cute!), and a fox snake.  Because the group sizes for Zoo Snoozes are supposed to be 25-50 people, they had actually paired our group of 11 with a rather large school group from Northern Michigan.  When we were in the classrooms doing the animal activities, they separated our groups, and I was so glad because it would have been difficult for our kids to see and touch the animals if we were still combined with the huge Michigan group.

Next we went to the Carnivore Cafe (used to be an exhibit building that housed animals and they left some of the cages up for kids to eat in – they get a big kick out of this) for our snack of pizza, raisins, juice, and animal cookies.

We then went for a night hike, and walking around the zoo in the dark under the full moon was amazing.  We could hear the lions roaring, the snow leopards making cat noises, and when we walked past the cheetah exhibit, they were quite active.  One sprayed a tree, and then he began stalking us, slowly walking toward us and then running at us and jumping on the fence!  I didn’t have my camera out when he jumped at the fence, but here he is stalking us – listen for the little cheetah “meow” at the end:

The zookeeper said that the cheetahs like to stalk toddlers who can barely walk, and they especially have fun with this during the zoo’s Halloween celebration when parents bring their kids who dress up like cute and cuddly things – like little bunnies or other tasty cheetah snacks.

So we took  a night hike to the aquarium, and it was neat to see the keepers turn on the lights for us.  Even the fish were acting differently at night –  some fish appeared that we don’t normally see during the day when we come, and others were swimming in schools when they don’t usually do that during the day.

After the night hike, we made enrichment treats for the animals – there were four to choose from:  melon bombs for the elephants (you make holes in watermelons and stick carrot sticks in there), pumpkin cookies and paper towel tubes  for the primates, and snack bags for the elephants.  My oldest daughter made primate tubes, and Sammie and I made elephant snack bags – you put an apple, a pear, and a handful each of peanuts and popcorn in the bags and roll them shut and decorate them.  We were incredibly surprised the next morning when we watched Louie the elephant (and it was his 7th birthday!) take our treat bags and pop the whole things into his mouth (bags and all!) without even opening them first!  Here is a video of Louie eating our bags – too bad I couldn’t get out from behind the girl with the ponytail:

After making the enrichments, we went back to a classroom and played an animal training games using a training clicker – I have to get myself one of those and follow the puppy around for a day or two to housebreak him!  Wonder when I’ll find the time for that?  After the game, it was finally time for bed, and we got to choose if we wanted to separate from the Michigan group.  We chose yes, leaving them to sleep with the screaming parrots – I get enough of that at home!  And sure enough, they reported to us the next day that the birds were up and screaming at 5am.  I  would not have been too happy about that, especially since we didn’t get to bed until 1am!  So we took our stuff and slept in one of the classrooms in the basement of the Museum of Science which was pretty neat – it’s a well-kept 1930’s Works Progress Association building, and we got to wander the winding basement hallways back and forth to the bathroom.  Never mind that the building is home to hundreds of frogs and toads –  they were upstairs, and I didn’t give them any thought.

I think I will end it here and save day 2 of the Zoo Snooze for another post – this turned out to be a rather long post, and even though it’s difficult for me to understand, not everyone loves zoos as much as I do.  I don’t want to bore the heck out of anyone!

I was recently reminded of how alone I felt back just a few short years ago. I often wondered what my future would be like. In a few short months all of my future plans were crushed. For the next couple of years, I felt that there was no need to plan for any future.

Tonight, as I sat here trying to figure out if I wanted to read, watch a movie, or listen to a ballgame, I started to think about what the future may hold for me. And of course I started to think what sort of things I should be doing to get the future that would be best for me.

No definite answers this evening. That would just be too easy. No, I have some more thinking to do. I guess I will have plenty of time to do it. One day at a time for now. But at least I have given some thought about tomorrow.

Yesterday was a day for new family members, I guess. Tony and I had one planned and one was a surprise. My boss had asked if Tony and I were interested in taking Darth’s friend and ‘brother’. He was the last cat she had left in the garage, and she felt bad about leaving him by himself. He was losing weight and everything. So, Tony allowed me to bring him home and now Padme, Beru and Darth have a new brother. Wedge is a grey and white cat and is the biggest of our four cats. Padme is definitely not happy about it right now, but she will come around, she did with Beru and Darth and I am sure she will with Wedge. Wedge is a very friendly cat and he listens to Padme, so that will definitely help her except him, since he already knows who is in charge! Once Padme excepts Wedge, she will be nicer to the other cats also. She is a very spoiled and temperamental kitten, but I love her so much! 🙂

Well, the other family member was brought home by Amie. She brought home a little two month old Jack Russel puppy. It isn’t always going to be staying here since it is being potty trained. Where ever Amie is, the puppy will be going with her, when it can. She named him Zeke and he is adorable. It is probably a good thing that Padme hasn’t met him yet. She would be just thrilled to have a little hyper puppy around. 😉