Excel Man

This is why I should never be allowed to bring a laptop into a boring meeting. This is the picture of boredom. I made him in Excel.

Bluegrass Picnic

Tonight will be my first evening at home in almost two weeks. I've been out of the house a lot lately and am looking forward to being home and getting some cleaning done. Isn't that sad, that I'm looking forward to cleaning?

Last night was my knitting night instead of our typical Wednesdays. There was a bluegrass band I wanted to see playing down in Indianola (for Bluegrass Tuesdays on the Square) and one of the knitting girls figured we could take our knitting outdoors for a change. I raced home after work to change clothes, grab my knitting, and pick up some snacks. After a quick bite to eat with Jeff I headed to our meeting spot and the group headed south to Indianola. We arrived at the town square just as the band was getting started.

We were there to see Mr. Baber's Neighbors, a local bluegrass band that has developed quite the following. And with good reason. These guys were good. We found ourselves a shady spot, spread out Jeff's old army blanket, and had a wonderful picnic. We had two types of cheese, crackers, fresh bread with yummy spreads, grapes, carrots, kettlekorn, and cider. It was far more food than any of us needed but we did a great job polishing it off (I should not have had that quick bite with Jeff. Stuffed!!!). We sat out with tons of other local residents, knitted, talked, ate, and listened to great music. There was something so relaxed about the whole evening. I loved the people watching, there were tons of families and couples and older people. It was a wonderful feeling of community. After my hands got tired of knitting I just sat back, relaxed, and people-watched.

The weather was perfect and when the band wrapped up at about 8:45 I don't think any of us were ready to head home. We were some of the last people on the square. Once back in Des Moines, we stopped for Dairy Queen and then separated for the night. A great evening filled with good friends, good music, and good food.

It's All Relative

On Thursday night, Jeff and I had dinner with my aunt and uncle and the rest of my in-town family. We had a fantastic time getting together. Late that night my father and uncle boarded a bus to take them fishing in Canada, leaving my aunt in Des Moines with my mom. Having my aunt here, lead to possibly one of the most family filled weekends I've had in a long time. It was a blast but wow am I exhausted.


On Thursday it was dinner and talking until pretty late. On Friday night Jeff and I had dinner with my mom and aunt and then took my aunt out to the local baseball game. We had beautiful seats on one of the most perfect weather nights I can remember. There were fireworks after the game and then we drove her around the city a little before dropping her home to my mom. She had a blast and even though it wasn't her beloved White Sox, it was an exciting enough game to keep her interested. She even almost caught a foul ball (instead she ended up with a bruised elbow).



On Saturday we picked up my mother and her sister and the four of us headed out to the Des Moines Art Festival. Despite the fact that it was egg-fryingly hot, we wandered among the booths for a couple hours and my mother even bought a gorgeous handmade kaleidoscope. I debated heavily about some amazing steampunk bird sculptures but in the end didn't have the money to buy. Those might become a regret.



After lunch at Centro, we headed out to the other Des Moines art fair (yes there are two competing fairs in one weekend) where my mother bought me a beautiful piece of artwork that uses handpoured pewter leaves. I've already hung it up. It was just stunning. Thanks Mom!! After both artfairs we were all wiped out. We headed back to my mom's place to have a light dinner and play some board games.



Sunday was supposed to be Jeff and my day but my mother called with an offer I couldn't refuse. We went to the zoo and had a great time. There have been so many changes in the last year at the zoo. Jeff and I were there in the fall last year. This trip, there were areas that I didn't recognize. Amazing. It just keeps getting better and better. The highlights were the beautiful birds that wandered right up to us in the discovery center. Particularly the Victoria Crowned Pigeon which was easily the size of a wild turkey and appeared to have no fear of us (see below). After the zoo we dropped the ladies off and spent a quiet evening cleaning the house. I'm so far behind on getting things done. Of course I'd have to be home at some point for things to get done.



On Monday we decided to do a girl's day since my sister was off work. We went shopping for our upcoming trip and ended up picking up a number of nice things. I bought a ring and a new travel bag. Then after a nice sushi dinner, Jeff and I headed out to the library. Of course the moment I brought my new books home I was lost. Nothing got done the rest of the night as I sat on the couch and read. It was an amazing weekend, filled to the brim. But now I'm exhausted. And ready for things to return to normal. Just a couple more days.

Poetry Friday

It's a beautiful day. The kind of beautiful summer day that makes you feel happy just to be alive. Everything feels infinite on a day like today and I'm caught up in the sheer joy of good weather. So of course I had to offer a Carpe Diem poem.

Barter
By Sara Teasdale

Life has loveliness to sell,
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings,
And childrens's faces looking up
Holding wonder in a cup.

Life has loveliness to sell,
Music like a curve of gold,
Scent of pine trees in the rain,
Eyes that love you, arms that hold,
And for your spirit's still delight,
Holy thoughts that star the night.

Spend all you have for loveliness,
Buy it and never count the cost;
For one white singing hour of peace
Count many a year of strife well lost,
And for a breath of ecstacy
Give all you have been, or could be.

Toxicity

I try hard to be a relatively nice person. After years of being tormented in grade school and middle school, I'm pretty well aware of what is hurtful. I try never to cause any person or animal suffering. I may joke occasionally with someone in a teasing manner but I try to make sure I don't hurt any feelings or if I do I apologize quickly.

That said, I have a countdown going for the number of hours that I have to deal with a coworker of mine. She's retiring today and I'm literally counting down the hours. I feel crappy about saying that but it's true. I've met a few negative people in my life but this woman takes the cake. She's what most psychologists would consider a toxic person. And to be honest, the negativity coming from her office has been starting to affect me.

When I first started at the office, four years ago, I was a bit worried to hear deep heavy sighs coming from the office across from me. The first time or so I walked over to see if everything was okay. And after listening to 45 minutes of everything that was wrong in her life, I backed away and didn't come back. Now I realized that she sighs all the time, hundreds of times a day. I don't even hear it anymore. I've heard this woman swear at customer service personnel in some of the nastiest ways. I've heard her complain to coworkers over and over about how nothing is going right in her life. I've even had her approach me a couple of times to ask how I'm doing just so she can rant about how terrible everything is for her. And even when things are going fine she can always find something to complain about.

And it really is starting to affect me. I try not to let anyone else dictate my mood but it's been hard to listen to her verbally put people down over and over without finding myself smirk a little at her misfortunes. If she was even a bit sweeter I would try to befriend her. I assume that she's lonely but I've heard nothing but nastiness come out of her mouth. Everyone hates to come to ask her for anything. So I roll my eyes when she starts yelling at yet another person. I smirk a bit when she complains to a neighbor about her financial/health/relationship/work...woes. And I hope that when she's finally gone, I can stop being so mean. I feel bad about disliking her. I've even gone as far as calling her a troll. But I think her toxicity is wearing off on me. Luckily I only have about four more hours to go with her. I think I'll breath a sigh of relief when she's gone. Heck I may even give a deep satisfied sigh.

Old Files/Good Finds

I'm cleaning up some files on my computer today and stumbled across a list that Jeff had sent me during a bit of a dark period and I thought I'd share it with you. Those of you who know me will know that I'm generally a neurotic mess of a person. I'm constantly worrying, feeling guilty, or judging myself about something. I spend far too much time in my own head and it tends to make me a bit unhappy. So Jeff found this list on a website called Stepcase Lifehack and sent it to me. This was written by Adrian Savage and every point he offers made an impression on me.

Sorry it's so long. I thought about just putting in the titles but I think the impact is in the rest of the entries. I think it's worth a long read.

10 simple ways to save yourself from messing up your life

1. Stop taking so much notice of how you feel. How you feel is how you feel. It’ll pass soon. What you’re thinking is what you’re thinking. It’ll go too. Tell yourself that whatever you feel, you feel; whatever you think, you think. Since you can’t stop yourself thinking, or prevent emotions from arising in your mind, it makes no sense to be proud or ashamed of either. You didn’t cause them. Only your actions are directly under your control. They’re the only proper cause of pleasure or shame.

2. Let go of worrying. It often makes things worse. The more you think about something bad, the more likely it is to happen. When you’re hair-trigger primed to notice the first sign of trouble, you’ll surely find something close enough to convince yourself it has come.

3. Ease up on the internal life commentary. If you want to be happy, stop telling yourself you’re miserable. People are always telling themselves how they feel, what they’re thinking, what others feel about them, what this or that event really means. Most of it is imagination. The rest is equal parts lies and misunderstandings. You have only the most limited understanding of what others feel about you. Usually they’re no better informed on the subject; and they care about it far less than you do. You have no way of knowing what this or that event really means. Whatever you tell yourself will be make-believe.

4. Take no notice of your inner critic. Judging yourself is pointless. Judging others is half-witted. Whatever you achieve, someone else will always do better. However bad you are, others are worse. Since you can tell neither what’s best nor what’s worst, how can you place yourself correctly between them? Judging others is foolish since you cannot know all the facts, cannot create a reliable or objective scale, have no means of knowing whether your criteria match anyone else’s, and cannot have more than a limited and extremely partial view of the other person. Who cares about your opinion anyway?

5. Give up on feeling guilty. Guilt changes nothing. It may make you feel you’re accepting responsibility, but it can’t produce anything new in your life. If you feel guilty about something you’ve done, either do something to put it right or accept you screwed up and try not to do so again. Then let it go. If you’re feeling guilty about what someone else did, see a psychiatrist. That’s insane.

6. Stop being concerned what the rest of the world says about you. Nasty people can’t make you mad. Nice people can’t make you happy. Events or people are simply events or people. They can’t make you anything. You have to do that for yourself. Whatever emotions arise in you as a result of external events, they’re powerless until you pick them up and decide to act on them. Besides, most people are far too busy thinking about themselves (and worry what you are thinking and saying about them) to be concerned about you.

7. Stop keeping score. Numbers are just numbers. They don’t have mystical powers. Because something is expressed as a number, a ratio or any other numerical pattern doesn’t mean it’s true. Plenty of lovingly calculated business indicators are irrelevant, gibberish, nonsensical, or just plain wrong. If you don’t understand it, or it’s telling you something bizarre, ignore it. There’s nothing scientific about relying on false data. Nor anything useful about charting your life by numbers that were silly in the first place.

8. Don’t be concerned that your life and career aren’t working out the way you planned. The closer you stick to any plan, the quicker you’ll go wrong. The world changes constantly. However carefully you analyzed the situation when you made the plan, if it’s more than a few days old, things will already be different. After a month, they’ll be very different. After a year, virtually nothing will be the same as it was when you started. Planning is only useful as a discipline to force people to think carefully about what they know and what they don’t. Once you start, throw the plan away and keep your eyes on reality.

9. Don’t let others use you to avoid being responsible for their own decisions. To hold yourself responsible for someone else’s success and happiness demeans them and proves you’ve lost the plot. It’s their life. They have to live it. You can’t do it for them; nor can you stop them from messing it up if they’re determined to do so. The job of a supervisor is to help and supervise. Only control-freaks and some others with a less serious mental disability fail to understand this.

10. Don’t worry about your personality. You don’t really have one. Personality, like ego, is a concept invented by your mind. It doesn’t exist in the real world. Personality is a word for the general impression that you give through your words and actions. If your personality isn’t likeable today, don’t worry. You can always change it, so long as you allow yourself to do so. What fixes someone’s personality in one place is a determined effort on their part—usually through continually telling themselves they’re this or that kind of person and acting on what they say. If you don’t like the way you are, make yourself different. You’re the only person who’s standing in your way.

Still No Trench Photos

I have no real excuse for why you aren't looking at the pictures I took this past weekend from Trench. I had planned to download them Sunday night but after spending half the day on the road, I was in the mood to just relax. Jeff and I drove home on the back roads which was just wonderful. There was constantly a new town or new farm to see. We drove through towns with less than 200 people, spotted a quail on the side of the road, and at our friends suggestion stopped and picked up a fantastic pie (thanks for the suggestion Cathy! Mmmmm tasty). It was so much better than taking the interstate. The only problem was that it added another hour onto our drive. So when we got home we sat on the porch and relaxed until dark, then headed inside to numb our brains with TV. Plus, the cat wouldn't have let me sit at the computer for more than five minutes without demanding to be petted and attended to. She might have missed us a little. So I figured I'd download them and post them here and to Facebook on Monday night.

After dinner last night Jeff and I ended up at the grocery store to pick up enough fresh produce to get me through the week. I've been buying produce once or twice a week lately to up my fruit and vegetable intake. I eat a good amount of them but I want to make sure that produce is my go-to snack. And I tend to grab whatever is easy and available as a snack, which too often tends to be junk food. So last night, after carting home tons of produce, I spent a good chunk of the evening cutting and cleaning and prepping all my fruits and veggies. My fridge is practically overflowing with tupperware containers. This morning I made myself a quick salad in less than 5 minutes since all my ingredients were ready to go. But of course that ate up part of the evening and by the time it was done I didn't bother to track down the cord for the camera. So I set my sights on tonight.

And that won't happen either. I can flat out tell you that since I'll be out of town this evening, having dinner with a friend and then attending an Irish Jam. I'm leaving straight from work for the 35 minute drive up north and won't be heading home until after 11. Should be a long day. I hope I can stay awake for it. So I'll plan for Wednesday, either before or after knitting. I figure it doesn't take more than a minute or two to download. So I have no idea why it hasn't gotten done. But it hasn't. So you'll have to wait another day.

Happy Father's Day - Better Late Than Never

This weekend flew by even with an extra day. I took Friday off (my last furlough day, Woohoo!!!) and Jeff and I headed out of town to hang out with some friends and play dodgeball. Every year (here is my write-up from last year) our friends Lon and Lisa host a dodgeball weekend over Father's Day. The boys get together and play while the girls sit around, talk, and laugh at the boys. Then we all eat tons of food and play video games. Yeah so it pretty much rocks!!! Thanks guys! We had a fantastic weekend filled with video games, anime, and friends. We actually stumbled into an anime convention at the hotel we happened to be staying at which just made the weekend that much more awesome. People in costumes everywhere. It made me want to do a convention again. Maybe Dragon Con with my brother and father this year. Hmmm.

I'll talk more about trench (and possibly post incriminating pictures) tomorrow. Today I have to do something overdue. I have to talk about my Dad. One of the hard parts about having this party every year is that I always miss Father's Day since we are out of town. My dad is always really cool about it. We went out to dinner with him last Wednesday but I wanted to do something else to honor him. I am blessed with having two amazing parents (and two great parent-in-laws as well). My parents taught us kids to be honest and hard-working and considerate. Both were the first in their families to go to college, and they passed on the value of education to me. My dad brought himself up from his steel worker roots, to go to college, then medical school. He's worked for the same hospital for the last 30 something years and has never missed a day due to weather. He's worked hard to get where he is, even though I tease him now about his semi-retired schedule.

My father on vacation in Turks and Caicos

But my dad's work ethic isn't my favorite thing about him. When I was growing up my dad was always reading or playing guitar or gardening or fishing.... He has more hobbies than I can count and in many ways I've grown up a lot like him. I owe him my love of learning new things. My mother is the one who instilled reading in me but it was my dad's constant interest in things that pushed me to pick up new hobbies. He and I are very similar in that way. We become fascinated with something, learn as much as we can about it, and then move on to something else.

My father was never shy about asking questions. He can instantly set people at ease with his easy-going nature. He's the kind of person who can talk with anyone and constantly has a joke for every situation (something I wish I'd inherited). I've developed my love of food and trying new foods from him. He's blessed me with a love of the outdoors and science. His fearlessness when trying things is something I'm still trying to learn myself. But I've been blessed with a great role model. Always smiling, always happy, always learning, always interested, his outlook on life is incredibly positive and I'm constantly striving to be more like him. So this is just to say I love you Dad and you inspire me.

My father, my little sister, and I after a wonderful day of scuba diving in Bull Shoals, Arkansas

Pressure...Pushing Down on Me

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going"

There's a saying that I've heard used in pretty much every context imaginable. What I've realized this week is that I'm not "the tough". I apparently don't handle pressure well. It's a odd fact that the more pressure I have on me, the more I shut down. So while I'm handling what seems like endless and endlessly frustrating work projects at work, I simply shut down at home. I've been completely unproductive this week while home. I've fallen behind on all of my communication, can't even stand to check email, and have been avoiding the phone. I've done not a bit of housework this week, which Jeff has sweetly taken care of. And I don't even want to look at a computer.

The blog has been a bit of a casualty. This may be one of my least productive weeks blog wise. Which of course is interesting in itself. I've set an odd deadline for myself blog wise and that too is creating pressure for me. I've started blog posts numerous times only to abandon them a couple lines in. All because of this deadline. The funny thing is that I was just writing without worry, I would have had a ton of posts done. As you guys know, I'm not too picky about what I put out here. But with this deadline I seem to have frozen up.

So it's time for me to take a step back. Yes the work projects have to be done by a certain time. Yes my life after work has been a bit crazy lately. No I'm not going to let that affect the blog from now on. I'm also not going to think about this completely arbitrary deadline I've set for myself. And remember that this is all about play and not about work. Hopefully that can take away some of the pressure. And keep me going. Because apparently "when the going gets tough", I take a mental sabbatical.

Songs about Toast and Butter Jesus

I'm going to steal a post idea from my friend Salt who writes a very enjoyable blog about whatever argument happens to end up in his head. Today he wrote an interesting post about religion and the belief that things happen as a punishment. He was referencing the gigantic Styrofoam Jesus that was recently struck by lightning and burned to the ground. But I'm not going to talk about that.

Instead I'm more interested in the singer he mentioned. A while ago Jeff got me hooked on the morning show Bob and Tom. I loved the comedians they brought in, some of their batter between the group, and I particularly liked the musicians. They introduced me to people like Paul and Storm, Rodney Carrington, Stephen Lynch, and Heywood Banks. Sometimes the humor got a bit crude (this show is not for the young ones) but it almost always made me laugh. I haven't been listening to the show recently but I still listen to the music.

So where to these two paragraphs combine? With Heywood Banks, a parody songwriter. Heywood wrote a hilarious song about the giant Jesus sculpture called "Big Butter Jesus" since it has a bit of a buttery looking color to it. With descriptors like "unsalted Jesus", "Promise Jesus", "sweet cream Jesus", and the ever perfect "Oleo Lord", this song is blasphemous and downright hilarious. And this is just one of his songs.

Most of his songs are just silly. He has a decent voice and that with his bizarre lyrics make these songs enjoyable. His song "Iowa" is a regular favorite of mine. Any song about the state that occasionally bursts in with "What's that smell?" is good in my book. I laugh so hard I cry when I listen to "You Can Be Mean to Me (The Revenge Song)". And you really have to watch his song "Toast" on video. Heywood sings while accompanying himself on...well...a toaster. Bob and Tom's favorite seemed to be "A Trauma to the Groin" which is enjoyable but not quite as good as "Wiper Blades".

Heywood is actually Stuart Mitchell, and he has a style all his own. I've seen pictures of him with long straight hair and a pair of nerd glasses, but I've also seen pictures with him looking like Colonel Sanders. There both funny looks but but his image is only a small part of the act. It's the music that fascinated me. His music just makes me crack up laughing. If you're not easily offended (and have a good sense of humor) he's well worth a listen. Fun stuff.

Thanks for the idea, Salt. Hope it's okay that I "borrowed".

Poetry Friday

I haven't done a Poetry Friday in a while and I figure I'm about due. I've been thinking about which poem to post all week. On Wednesday I had decided it would be Jorie Graham's The Way Things Work, mostly because I tend to repeat the last line as something of a mantra. "The way things work is that eventually something catches." Not sure why that lines sticks with me but it does.

But today I'm in a silly mood. I just finished a very, very, very (can I stress the VERY) frustrating work project and I feel like I can breath a little easier. So today is something silly, a little ditty by Ogden Nash. I've been reading through his collected works and am constantly beset by smirks (sorry too much rhyming poetry). For those of you with children, this may seem familiar. For me, it just makes me laugh.

Children's Party
by Ogden Nash

May I join you in the doghouse, Rover?
I wish to retire till the party's over.
Since three o'clock I've done my best
To entertain each tiny guest.

My conscience now I've left behind me,
And if they want me, let them find me.
I blew their bubbles, I sailed their boats,
I kept them from each other's throats.

I told them tales of magic lands,
I took them out to wash their hands.
I sorted their rubbers and tied their laces,
I wiped their noses and dried their faces.

Of similarities there's lots
Twixt tiny tots and Hottentots.
I've earned repose to heal the ravages
Of these angelic-looking savages.

Oh, progeny playing by itself
Is a lonely little elf,
But progeny in roistering batches
Would drive St. Francis from here to Natchez.

Shunned are the games a parent proposes,
They prefer to squirt each other with hoses,
Their playmates are their natural foemen
And they like to poke each other's abdomen.

Their joy needs another woe's to cushion it,
Say a puddle, and someone littler to push in it.
They observe with glee the ballistic results
Of ice cream with spoons for catapults,

And inform the assembly with tears and glares
That everyone's presents are better than theirs.
Oh, little women and little men,
Someday I hope to love you again,

But not till after the party's over,
So give me the key to the doghouse, Rover

Google Wallpaper

If your Google page looked a little different this morning, that's not by accident. Apparently Google is launching a line of background wallpaper for their website. Rather than the basic white background with search box and a few links, Google lets you customize your page with either personal images or ones from their stock photos. Just sign in to your account and Google will look however you want.

I was excited to see familiar artists like Jeff Koons or Dale Chihuly available for a background. There are a number of public photos as well that are really stunning. It was difficult to pick just one. I went back and forth between a couple images before deciding on this Dale Chihuly as my background. I may change it tomorrow though. I do like the flexibility.

I wonder if this is Google's way of competing with Bing's search engine. I've been going to Bing daily to look at the incredible photography that they have available. They change the image daily and then have links for more information about the location, event, animal, or whatever other subject it depicts. Today's image of Lisbon's Belem Tower was so beautiful that I ended up saving the image in a file I keep.

I'm a huge fan of photography and art so I honestly don't mind if this is competition between the two search engines. I like that I can choose my image from Google, and I love that I get surprised daily by Bing. It's a bit like browsing or searching for books. With searching you are guaranteed to get something you like. But with browsing you can discover something completely new. Both wonderful. And now available on my desktop in beautiful colors.

Animated Chemistry

As I'm sure I've mentioned before I've become completely addicted to Neatorama. I've added it to my news bookmarks and go there daily for a bit of inspiration, entertainment, or education. It's just like the magazine Mental Floss, which my sister has been working (and succeeding) on getting me to read.

The last couple of days or so, Neatorama has featured animation from some young animators. And after watching today's feature, I simply had to share. The image above is from Oxygen, the story of a young oxygen molecule trying to make friends at his elementary school, with some odd, and very funny results (click the link for the full 2 minute animated film). My favorite part was his interactions with Barium. If my chemistry class had been as funny as this short was I probably would have paid better attention in class. The animation is the work of Christopher Hendryx and was his graduation project for Ringling College of Art and Design. This is a must see for any science fan, or heck, anyone who likes to laugh (and learn). Short, sweet, and very funny.

Library Porn

This will be quick. My time is very short today but I did want to share something I'd found recently.

I once heard that images of beautiful libraries were like porn for librarians. Certain images aroused certain feelings in the heart of a librarian. And I certainly have drooled when looking at images of the new Alexandria library or the New York Reading Room. I've been known to furtively go scouting for library photos late at night. I own two beautiful books filled with pictures of libraries across the world which I flip through regularly: the aptly named "Most Beautiful Libraries in the World" and Candida Hofer's "Libraries". When Curious Expeditions provided images of the most beautiful libraries ever I swooned, then I bookmarked the site (all of the images here were on that list, along with hundreds more that are just as beautiful).

Library pictures just stir something in me. A longing to walk their quiet stacks and peruse the titles. A desire to reshelve books on their glorious bookcases. I truly want to walk into the picture and stand surrounded by books, breathing in that library smell.

What doesn't quite do it for me was this picture (below) that I found recently of a library in North Korea. This was on BBC News' Day In Pictures. This is the library at Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang, North Korea. This electronic library is just not drawing me in the same way that others do. This is the antithesis of library porn. It's the anti-library. And I'm sadly just not interested in it. I know that libraries are becoming more electronic, and honestly I'm fine with that. As long as there are still books, and stacks, and papers to browse. I'm not ready for a library without books, the same way I'm not ready for books without paper. Call me old fashioned that way.

Don't Care How, I Want it Now

I've actually been trying to post this blog post for most of the day now. Blogger has decided that it didn't want to let me in. Not sure why. Perhaps it doesn't like my topic. Or maybe it just isn't happy that I'm been taking my weekends off from logging on. For those of you who are wondering I've been unplugging on my weekends for the last couple weeks. I don't read comics. I don't check email. I don't look at the news. And I certainly haven't been blogging. That will probably stay the same for the next couple of weekends if not permanently. I spend too much time online the rest of the week. Weekends are to recharge.

I sat down last night to do a Chocolate Factory marathon. I just finished reading Mel Stuart's Pure Imagination about the making of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and realized that it's been almost a year since I last watched the film. I'm completely mad for the 1971 version with Gene Wilder playing Willy Wonka. Pure Brilliance. So I figured if I was going to watch one version of Roald Dahl's immortal classic, then I might as well watch both. I own both of them. I enjoyed both for their very different takes on the story. They offer two very different Willy Wonka's which originally I was okay with. But I made a discovery last night. And it has more to do with the music than anything else.

Mel Stuart wrote in Pure Imagination that he didn't want to make the 1971 version into a musical. He didn't really want music. He felt that it would detract from the reality he was trying to create. After all very few of us randomly burst into song as we go about our daily lives. He relented after his producer convinced him that music would only enhance the film. And it has. I spent all yesterday singing "Pure Imagination", the wonderful song that Gene Wilder sings in the Chocolate Room. This morning I've been singing Veruca Salt's bratty anthem, "I Want it Now". And that's when I realized that there are no good songs from the new movie. In fact many of the Oompa Loompa songs made me want to fast forward through them. They are simply too over the top. In a film as flamboyant as Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that is saying a lot.

I will freely admit that I loved Johnny Depp's socially awkward (and slightly misanthropic) Willy Wonka and Burton cast Charlie perfectly. The visuals for Burton's film were incredible. I actually liked that over the top look. But nothing quite rivals the maniacal elegance of Gene Wilder in his top hat and purple coat. How one man could come off as suave and insane and sweet and devilish at the same time is beyond me. It was an incredible performance and I still claim Gene Wilder as the better Wonka. I liked the supporting cast for both films equally with the exception of the Oompa Loompas who hands down go to the 1971 cast, rather than the one guy who had to do the 2005 version. The 1971 visuals are dated but there is still a bit more charm there. The chocolate room in the 1971 version makes my mouth water. The 2005 version scares me a little bit.

I'm curious to see what the rest of you think. Have you seen the films? Which do you think was better? Who makes a better Wonka? I originally went into last night thinking I liked them equally. But this morning I woke up with a clear favorite. Now if only I could get this song out of my head.

A Perfect Night

If it seems like I've been distant from the internet lately, it's because I have. I haven't been on Facebook in days. Haven't checked email since we got back in town. And really haven't been online most of the day except for my brief lunch breaks. Work is ganging up on me and I haven't had a ton of time to spare.

So last night after working late again, I had planned to go home, make up a salad, and sit on the couch mindlessly watching TV. Jeff had other ideas. As I brought out my salad fixings he meekly suggested going out. And of course I couldn't pass that up. We headed over to one of the local sports bars and found a table outside on the patio. It was beautiful yesterday but we had the patio completely to ourselves. It was heaven. I ordered a beer and their amazingly tasty (and possibly good for me) taco salad. Then Jeff made me an offer I simply couldn't refuse. His deal was that we would go to the library as long as I walked around the nearby lake with him. Okay so I get to go to my favorite place in the world, and I get to go on a beautiful walk. Sign me up!!!

After dinner we headed over to the library and walked the lake. It's not a huge lake and we took our time in the walking. Jeff and I tend to get distracted by interesting bugs, pretty flowers, birds or animals of any sort...well pretty much everything. It was just nice to be out. I'm working on walking on rough terrain to strengthen my ankle even more. I'm still not 100% but I'm getting better. After the walk we went to our own different sections of the library. I picked up the second book in the Bone series by Jeff Smith. I've been loving this graphic novel series but have been taking my time reading them. The series follow Fone Bone and his cousins Phoney and Smiley who, after being kicked out of Boneville, find themselves being chased by rat creatures, saved by a dragon, and befriended by a young girl and her ultra tough grandmother. The characters are all unique and the plot has me both intrigued and confused. I need to pick up the pace with this series.

I picked up a graphic novel called Wonderland written and illustrated by Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew. This is the first in a series of graphic novels following the exploits of Wonderland's characters without Alice. This one followed Mary Ann, the housemaid for the White Rabbit and her adventures with the Queen of Hearts and the Queen of Spades. I'll be curious to pick up the next book. I love take-offs on Alice in Wonderland and these are inventive and downright beautiful. The story is a wonderful reinvention of the world and is very much in the spirit of the original book. The book's artwork is stunning, a great mix of detailed and surreal landscapes with well created characters. I'd seen the artwork before and had been meaning to check out the book.

I also picked up a biography of Edward Gorey and a book on the making of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Gene Wilder version). After the library Jeff and I stopped for ice cream and I went home to read. I finished the two graphic novels and started the "making of" book. I'll be through it before the weekend is up. As I sat on the couch last night, surrounded by books and finishing up my ice cream, all I could think was that last night was a perfect night. I feel completely refreshed today. It's amazing what unplugging does for me.

Not Quite All Here

I'm back. I had a fantastic weekend of visiting family in St. Louis and now I'm back. Kind of. We've actually been back in town since Monday night but I'm still not back up and running at full steam yet. The weekend was so fantastic and relaxing that I can't quite get back into my usual routine.

We traveled down to St. Louis on Friday and had dinner at Jeff's brother's house. It was a wonderful evening and we ended up staying until late. The next day Jeff and his dad and I headed out to The Magic House, a children's museum that I've been wanting to go to for years now. It was a interesting museum and even though we weren't exactly the target audience, we managed to spend three or so hours enjoying. The museum was busy but not so much so that we couldn't play with the exhibits ourselves. The evening was spent with ice cream (from local institution Ted Drewes) and dominoes with Jeff's parents.

On Sunday we were joined by Jeff's brother and his wife on a tour of the St. Louis Zoo (thanks for braving the heat guys). I love a good zoo and this one is one of the nicest free zoos in the country. I loved the new penguin house and the old-fashioned reptile house. But after about two hours, the sun and the crowds got to all of us and we escaped to find some beer and lunch. After lunch I ended up taking a long (3 hour) nap before getting up for a snack and more dominoes.

We drove home on Monday to a very happy kitty and a day of relaxing. My scheduled Monday off had fallen on Memorial Day so I was granted another day. Tuesday Jeff and I went out hiking and then did some grocery shopping. The evening was spent listening to the rain and watching old Phineas and Ferb episodes. A complete waste of a day but a wonderful one. So when the alarm clock went off this morning I was a bit unprepared to return to the real world. My work inbox was crammed with requests so I hadn't even found a moment to post. Thank god for lunch hour. Although I'm back in the office today, I'm still not all here. Five days off might be a little too much.