On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me ...
12 ships to plunder,
11 cannons firing,
10 crewmen leaping,
9 sharks a' swimming,
8 rum-filled bottles,
7 lusty wenches,
6 jolly rogers,
5 gold doubloons,
4 eye patches,
3 earrings,
2 wooden legs
and a parrot for my shoulder - Arrr!
Towards something more seasonal.
It took:
30000 plus lights
130 extension cords
Over 8000 feet of control cable
Programming time: don't ask.
Most of the neighborhood used LED lights this year, so they are using 1/10th of the power as last year.
What do you get when you mix a Christmas Light show with Guitar Hero? Christmas Light Hero!
Song is "Cliffs of Dover" by the incredible Eric Johnson.
Have a Merry Christmas.
Patricia Brennan from Yale University is trying to encourage male Muscovy ducks to launch their ballistic penises into test tubes.
Full article here - and it really is worth the read. Fascinating stuff to learn whilst eating toast and marmite!
Frequently, I will fall madly in love with a piece of furniture that leaves even my closest friends & allies scratching their heads in confusion. Such was the case with my new desk. When I first showed it to my husband, I could tell he was skeptical, but knew better than to say so...When the glimmer is in my eye, just back away.
It was love at first glance on Craigslist for me:
So I contacted the owner to arrange a viewing. We had several conversations over the course of a few days while attempting to fit our schedules together and I learned that the desk had belonged to his mother and he had the pity-able task of sorting out her belongings. I told him that I was a furniture maker and would take really good care of it...that I wasn't sure if I would refinish it, or leave it alone, but either way it would be loved. In a small way, I think these exchanges may have been a bit therapeutic for him, as I sensed he was perhaps a bit choked up on the other line.
I should mention, in addition to being incredibly kind, he was also extremely fair with the price ($45 for desk, chair, & mirror) and generously offered to deliver it to me for free.
So yesterday, when he showed up, it was an easy no brainer. I saw it on the truck, knew it was love, handed him the money, and brought it in the house. It was a little dirty from being in storage, but a little simple green & elbow grease was all it took to clean up nicely:
While pulling out one of the drawers, my husband discovered hidden treasures had fallen into the back of it. I couldn't believe it - a beautiful desk AND hidden treasure! I had hit the jackpot. The best things we found: an antique bottle opener, stolen from a San Francisco hotel called The Raphael; a porcelain lid to a tiny box (this must have made her CRAZY trying to find it); an old silver swiss army knife? or nail cutter?; and best of all - a tiny gold skeleton key with a #2 on it.
Doesn't that just pique your sense of wonder & adventure like crazy???!!!! WHAT on earth does that key open and HOW will I find it?
Well, those questions may have to go unanswered. I plan to call the man today and offer him what I found...but I'm REALLY hoping he doesn't want them back, because I love them so much! I would like to keep them with the desk, either displayed behind my computer or in a shadow box on the wall. Each item has so much history and so many secrets to tell...If I am allowed to keep them, I know they will provide endless inspiration and possibly good luck while spending long hours feverishly writing at this desk.
And not just for singing, either!
When I was a desk jockey in San Francisco, I frequently changed my desktop image to something happy and tropical because I was, well - unhappy & cold. Now that I'm back in Hawaii, I wanted to put some images out into the internets, in case anyone out there is searching for warm, flowery, happy, tropical, Hawaii wallpaper:
Dan O'Bannon was a wonderful screen writer. Best remembered for Alien, my personal favourite remains Dark Star. Moody, funny and owing much to American film and comic history, O'Bannon is credited with acting (as Pinback), screenwriting and editting on the original short, and the extended John Carpenter effort.
For your viewing pleasure, and as a memorial to a great artist, here is the trailer for Dark Star.
Review from eZine: (cos I am feeling lazy today)
The story line was very well done, and the characters were interesting, although fairly predictable. I believe Raymond tries to have the same writing style as Dan Brown, but in my humble opinion, he doesn't do as good a job as Dan.
The worst thing about The Sanctuary is that it takes a long, long time to get to the point. There are an inordinate amount of chase scenes and shoot-outs, which ruined it for me a little bit. I don't mind a bit of violence, but when one man can out shoot 6, I find it a tad ridiculous. When they can out shoot that many people more than once, it becomes even more ridiculous.
When I first started reading the book, I thought that it was going to be just another book about chasing a mysterious elic of unusual, Godlike power. While in some sense, that is what this book is about, it is deeper than that.
If you like historical fiction that's jam packed with car chases, diabolical villains, shoot-outs and action, then you can do worse than buying The Sanctuary
Wil Wheaton has never been one to take the conventional path to success. Despite early stardom through his childhood role in the motion picture Stand By Me, and growing up on television as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wil left Hollywood in pursuit of happiness, purpose, and a viable means of paying the bills. In the oddest of places, Topeka, Kansas, Wil discovered that despite his claims to fame, he was at heart Just a Geek.
In this, his newest book, Wil shares his deeply personal and difficult journey to find himself. You'll understand the rigors, and joys, of Wil's rediscovering of himself, as he comes to terms with what it means to be famous, or, ironically, famous for once having been famous. Writing with honesty and disarming humanity, Wil touches on the frustrations associated with his acting career, his inability to distance himself from Ensign Crusher in the public's eyes, the launch of his incredibly successful web site, wilwheaton.net, and the joy he's found in writing. Through all of this, Wil shares the ups and downs he encountered along the journey, along with the support and love he discovered from his friends and family.
The stories in Just a Geek include:
- Wil's plunge from teen star to struggling actor
- Discovering the joys of HTML, blogging, Linux, and web design
- The struggle between Wesley Crusher, Starfleet ensign, and Wil Wheaton, author and blogger
- Gut-wrenching reactions to the 9-11 disaster
- Moving tales of Wil's relationships with his wife, step-children, and extended family
- The transition from a B-list actor to an A-list author
From Powell's Books:
Angels: Dru has always known about the poltergeists, vampires and werwulfen that inhabit the Real World since her father has traveled the country battling them, often with Dru's help. But when he is killed after they move to the Dakotas - and is sent back as a zombie to kill her - Dru digs deeper into her history, trying to find out who murdered her mother and who is after her. Graves, an orphan, joins up with her, and Dru is able to get some answers from Christophe, a djamphir (part human, part vampire).
Betrayals: Poor Dru Anderson. Her parents are long gone, her best friend is a werewolf, and she has just learned that the blood flowing through her veins is not entirely human. (So what else is new?)
Now Dru is stuck at a secret New England Schola for other teens like her, and there's a big problem she is the only girl in the place. A school full of cute boys wouldn't be so bad, but Dru's killer instinct says that one of them wants her dead. And with all eyes on her, discovering a traitor within the Order could mean a lot more than social suicide. . .
Can Dru survive long enough to find out who has betrayed her trust and maybe even her heart?
From Powell's Books:
Julie Walters has been delighting audiences on screen and on stage for more than 25 years, and has been described as Britain's most popular actress and comedienne. Now she tells us her own story, in her own words.
She was born in 1950s Birmingham, daughter of an austere Irish Catholic mother, and was sent to school in a convent. She wanted to be an actress from a young age, but to appease her mother she first went into nursing--that didn't last for long, and she soon joined Liverpool's Everyman Theatre. West End success followed, and she quickly replicated her success on film, earning an Academy Award nomination for her role in Educating Rita. Julie's collaborations with her close friend Victoria Wood have given audiences many unforgettable characters, and she's recently charmed a new generation of fans playing Mrs. Weasley in the Harry Potter films, alongside Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia , co-starring with Helen Mirren in Calendar Girls, and co-starring in Billy Elliot.
A natural writer with an instinctive sense of timing, Julie's memoir is warm, moving, painfully felt, fiercely intelligent--and totally entertaining.
The Brief but Excellent Synopsis from Powell's Books:
Two boys--a slow learner stuck in the body of a teenage giant and a tiny genius in leg braces--forge a unique friendship when they pair up to create one formidable human force. Basis for the film "The Mighty." Named as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults.
Summary:
So, out of all these books, I would wholeheartedly recommend Geek and Freak. Angels and Betrayals are good for those who like the genre (for most of Betrayals I just wanted to shake Dru to wake her up!) and the Walter's biography is good too. But skip Sanctuary - it really is not worth your time!
The Austere Academy is the fifth book in the series. At this point I've completely given up reading them to my son and am just enjoying them on my own. I liked this book because the poor kids finally find some friends. Of course, there's no happy ending, but it was nice while it lasted.
