Birch and Maple

And Another Thing

Listening to MJ's music continues to make me cry, even though I was pretty blase about his death the first few days.  And now, some bullet points:

• Top 3 on SYTYCD: Brandon, Kayla, and Randi.  Or possible Brandon, Jeanine, and Janette. 
• Next to go: Phillip (sob), Kupono, Evan, Randi, Melissa, Caitlin (although I think she's a fantastic dancer)
• Am I the only one who wants to see the Kasprzak brothers doing their own thang on Broadway?
• Torchwood:Children Of Earth: Holy effing crap.  Episode 3 is tonight. 
• I might have to write crossover fic between Torchwood/X-Files.  Gwen Cooper kicks ass.
• Any else loving The Philanthropist? (Hulu)(review)
• Still enjoying The Listener, too. (review w/YT promo)
• Next Food Network Star: top 3 - Geoffrey, Michael, Melissa.  So glad about the Nutritionist Who Couldn't Cook.  I think there is a place on FN for low-whatever "healthy" cooking, but they need to find someone with character.  Who can cook.
• Casualty 1909: wow.  I've loved Sarah Smart every since she was in At Home With The Braithwaites.
• Eastenders: DAMN YOU.
• ITV: has The Bill been canceled?  I'd still watch it on your incredibly crappy player if you but put it on your website...

And to end with, here's this awesome Tribal Fusion dancer I came across a couple of weeks ago, Sera Solstice. Music is 'Do' by Chronomad, which is a fantastic cd, I just bought it the other day. As someone else said, how refreshing to see something new.   I find myself much more attracted to Tribal Fusion these days, though I'm not a tribal dancer...I think I need to expand my dance horizons, but it's hard to do with no money.  Ah well.




Oro out.

Hunh, when did July happen?

I've been busy.  I'm trying to keep up with the blogs but am falling further and further behind.  I'm nearly up to 2000 unread messages in my email - so if you haven't heard from me, it's going to be a while longer.  I'm having some back problems, and some pretty severe knee problems, both of which I think are connected to the crappy mattress I can't afford to replace (it's either the wood stove or a mattress, and the stove will last longer and be more effective).

Speaking of my knee, if anyone has any idea what's going on with it, feel free to mention.  Basically, I'm in pain immediately after whenever my knee isn't working as a joint, ie, as I stand up, or turn over in bed or get out of the car.  I am in no pain whatsoever walking or dancing.  I don't think it's a joint problem, but beyond that...?

I've had a couple of mild panic attacks.  Not sure what's up with that, maybe it's just the constant stress over money.  I got July 4th off unexpectedly, which meant $70 less in my paycheck, and do to a fuckup the week before, I no longer have an overdraft as my savings account has been wiped out.  I'm also behind in my credit card payments (I do pay every month but sometimes miss the deadline, which of course means it's a  "missed" payment yadda yadda), but yesterday had to pay the phone bill via MC.  My current goal is to get to the point where I take out cash instead of debit for groceries and gas, but it's going to be tough.

I haven't looked at the big picture because I'm afraid it's going to be scarier than it already is.  Please, no suggestions to stop going out to dinner - that hasn't happened since our anniversary and even then my mom payed!

In essence, apart from money, stress, lack of sleep, back and knee pain, marital issues which I won't go into now, and  depression, the summer is going swimmingly.

Oro out.

Are We There Yet?

I took Mr Oro to MacLaomainn's Scottish Pub the other day, which he greatly enjoyed even though they were out of haggis (and judging by the disappointed looks on the faces of the other patrons as they came in, it must be good haggis).  He had a couple of pints of Bellhaven, which made him very happy, and got out of the house, which made me happy.

On the way back we nixed the highway and traveled through on the roads of my childhood, through the towns I knew vaguely from trips with my mom.  And I grew sad, thinking of the girl I was, who knew nothing of what was to come, who didn't even fantasize about what life might be in the future.

Or maybe at that age you don't think about the future at all, you just are.  It was strange, and sad, seeing all those houses that I so loved from when I was little, many of them dilapidated now.  They're typical houses for this area...clearly I'm going to have to take more photos of what I'm talking about, although that one is a good representative...I guess what I mean to say is that when I see houses of this nature, I think of home.

I found myself longing for the girl I was, wishing I could go back and see her innocence.  My heart breaks a little bit when I think back, because I had a very lucky rural childhood, albeit one filled with perhaps too much time alone, but that's how it is when you live half-way up a mountain with no other children near by (I have mentioned that when my mother wanted to really punish me, she kept me home from school, right?).  I suspect most people must have thought us very strange, weird, even, for living up there with no running water or electricity, in that one room shack with the dog.  Whenever I go back to the house now, it's unbelievable to me how tiny it actually was, for it seemed huge to me back then.

Oh, I gotta go - so much for reminiscing!

Oro out

So You Think You Can Blog

Yet another bullet point post (so boring, I know)(but I have to eat, dress, and leave for work in little under an hour, so forgive me if you will)of things I am watching thanks to Hulu, PBS, BBC, and, er, torrent:

• I am, once again, hooked on So You Think You Can Dance.  My top picks are Evan, Caitlin, Vitolio, Randi, Kupono
• Cat Deeley still needs to fire her stylist
• I think Brandon, while very powerful, can be a very sloppy dancer
• Dear BBC: please do another series of Spooks/MI5 as soon as possible.  Ditto for Escape to the Country (house porn!).  In the meantime, thanks for Casualty 1909 and Occupation.  I will endeavor to continue not to watch Eastenders, the Most Depressing Soap Opera In The World, Featuring The More Miserable People On Earth, tm.
• I'm really liking the Listener, it doesn't soothe my soul about the cancellation of Life or Journeyman though.
• Burn Notice contiinues to rock.
• Um I forgot what else I was going to write about.
• sorry.
• off to work I go!

Oro out

Duggar Nation

There's a reason why the term 'breeder' is an insult.

Recommended Reads

Here are a few things that Ive mostly finished.  More or less.

Finding Nouf - excellent mystery based in Saudi Arabia.  Good for folks who don't care for violent scenes (Donna Leon is also good for that lack, I understand) or any gore.  And for the one star reviewer who apparently missed this part: the author married a Saudi and lived there for several years.

Dreamdark: Silksinger - very enjoyable so far and well written.  If you've got a teen or pre-teen who likes fantasy/faeries, this is the series for them.  Although they are standalones, the 1st book in the series is already available in trade paper.

If I Stay - devastating but wonderful book that I can't discuss the details of, but it's heartbreaking.  If you've recently had a death in the family, don't read it...or maybe do, it might be cathartic.  There is a child death, however.

Selected Works Of TS Spivet - I've just started reading this and it's excellent.  Priced as an adult hardcover at $27.99, though...which is a shame, because it deserves wide readership.

Not Becoming My Mother - a (very) brief little book about how little we know our parents, and how to accept the unwitting gifts they give us.  Interesting, but I'd wait for the paperback.

Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities - fabulous!  And I don't just say that because one of the illustrator's is local.  Fascinating book that'll have you looking twice at your house plants, never mind the ones we have in our gardens.

Oro out.

Things I Am Doing Instead Of Blogging - child mentioned (briefly)

Oh lookee, it's the famous bullet point list:

• working
• chilling with the Chieftain
• figuring out what kind of wood stove to buy, cast iron or soapstone
• gardening - I can't stop buying plants when they're half-dead and on sale!
• working
• catching the odd bit of sleep
• reading books for work
• re-building the website for work
• dance practice
• dance class - last one before the summer break, yay
• coming up with a tv post soon

And now I must drink my tea and buy a push mower since I killed my mother's lawn mower, the one that she, y'know, loved.

Oro out

Yay For Proxies, or, the British TV post

Because now I can watch the BBC and ITV on the tv (one pc is hooked up to the tv, so we're really watching via the internet).

~*~

I just finished watching series 7 of Spooks aka MI5 and holy crap.  For the love of all that's addictive, BBC, please put a rush on series 8.

~*~

We might pay cash money to hook up to Eurosport for the Winter Olympics.

~*~

I'd kill to watch Kirstie and Phil on Location, Location, Location again.  I really miss Grand Designs.  And Property Ladder (the UK one's better).  And A Place In The Sun.  I do not, however, miss How Clean Is Your House?  People, I thought I knew what cluttered living was.  However, I will not live with bugs.  That's just living in filth.

~*~

Only in Britain would have a game show called Watercolour Challenge, where people compete in timed watercolour painting events to win a painting holiday abroad in Italy.  C4, please bring it back?

~*~

As you can tell, I am addicted to House Porn.  Although, having said that, the Beeb's Unsellables is just okay.

~*~

ITV is still crap*, but Britain's Got Talent rocks.  Especially this kid:




And I really liked Greg Pritchard, but they went with a cute little girl instead:
Ah well, time to go. Oro out.

*but I'm still going to watch Emmerdale and The Bill.  Gods help me.

Made My Day

Available at all good bookstores as of TODAY.

Also, book 2 will be available in October.

Available in paperback - trade & mass market:
Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - June 6
My Stroke Of Insight - today (video available on YT and TED)
Shanghai Girls - Hardcover only, Tuesday, 5/26

Oro out

Filled With Glee

Holy moly, if you haven't seen Glee on Hulu, you need to watch it.  Immediately.  It's High School Musical: Bitter Reality!.  The pilot's only available for the next 3 weeks though.  Added bonus, possible infertility pregnancy announcement. You don't need to register in order to watch.

~*~

Things I have planted in the past 2 weeks:

Butterfly Bush - Nanho Purple, Bicolor
Crocosmia - Lucifer, Emily Morgan, and the other one,  45 bulbs  in all
Calla Lily 3x bulbs
Casa Blanca Lily 3x bubs
Delphinium "Pacific Giant" 3x
Lemon Thyme 1x
Lemon Basil 1 x
Bee Balm 1x
Gladiola 20x bulbs
Strawberry 'Ozark Beauty' 1x
Tomato -  cherry and grape, 2x
Peppers - jalapeno, Mexibell, the other one

on sale at Wally World:
Aquilegia 2x
Petunia 2x
Dianthus 1x
Begonia 1x

replanted:
Lavender 3x (Munstead, Hidcote, and the other one)

uncovered:
more stones of the front walkway, the one that I didn't know was a double pathway. hahahahaha.    Ah, hard landscaping, there's nothing like it.

I could talk more about work but I need to fold even more ridiculous amounts of laundry.

I am tired.

Also, if anyone knows how Cricket's doing....?

Oro out