Every Woman Needs More Than One

I called DH over to look at this very nice handbag for sale on RueLaLa.
Most years I like to buy my oldest (I almost wrote "oddest" in a very non-Freudian way) daughter a good quality handbag for her birthday or Christmas.
It's a good investment, plus it's always nice to be able to switch bags in order not to wear them out.
You're supposed to do this with shoes, I would assume that the same principle applies to handbags as well.
So I showed this bag to DH, and said, "Wouldn't this be a nice gift for her?"
Seeing as her birthday isn't until November, kudos to me for thinking ahead, right?
He said, "Sheesh (that's a noise), how many bags does she need?"
I gasped and in shock replied, "Huh?"
Really now, she definitely needs more than one, or two, or even three.
Gosh.
What is he thinking?

A New Way to Be Called Old

I was talking to my oldest daughter the other day, and telling her how much I've been enjoying watching the show Hot in Cleveland.
Another time when you know the internet is such an awesome thing.
All the episodes are available on the TVLand Website.
It really is funny, and one of the best things about it is that all three women (minus Betty White) are brunettes!
Yea for brunettes!
(No offense to the blondes out there, but come on.)

So here's how our conversation went:

Me: This show is so great. It's funny, and refreshing.
Her: Meh. That show annoys me.
Me: What?!? It's a really good show, how can you not like it.
Her: Well it's for your demographic.

Ouch.
Could I be any older?
To her, I guess not.

A bit too ambitious perhaps?

I mentioned in an earlier post that my goal this year is to read 175 books.
Wait, I should say "enjoy" 175 books, and that could be true, but at least one of the books I've read this year has been not so enjoyable.
Why is it that the bad ones always take so long to slog through?
Life really is too short to waste on bad books (or mean people), and yet I/we still do.
I think, however, that I've been a bit too ambitious in stocking my "to read" list.
I currently have eight books checked out from the library, one book that just came in through Inter-Library Loan, a new Monica Ferris that I bought before Christmas and still haven't read, and a huge stack of books in my room that are truly gathering dust.
Oh, and the audio books from Audible that are in my library waiting to be listened to/read, such as The House at Riverton, The French Lieutenant's Woman, and Crime and Punishment, to name a few.
And, not to mention all the books on my Kindle!
I think I need either a good blizzard or a very long vacation (with pay!) so that I can just read, read, read.
Now let's not even discuss all of my yarn stash that I need to tackle....

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
After watching the movies and cartoons more times than I can count with my kids when they were younger, the TMNT gang kind of grows on you.
Last year for Christmas I bought them TMNT snuggies, well all but one (Michelangelo) because Hot Topic sold out of them so quickly that it was amazing.
I actually called all the Hot Topic stores in the area (even in Erie, PA), and my friend Kat said she'd pick it up for me in Virginia Beach if the store had one, but no joy.
Bummer.
Drag.
So now I'll continue to search for the elusive Michelangelo snuggie, and hope that one day I can find it.
In the meantime I can actually say that I am surprised that I am Donatello.
Odd because I really did not do well in high school.
Well I suppose if my school were in a sewer, and my pen a Bo staff, and perhaps if I stretched my imagination a whole lot....then yeah, I can see it.

You Are Donatello

You are definitely the brainy one in your group of friends. Everyone knows you're super smart. It's likely that you were the top student in your class... as long as school didn't totally bore you. You are inventive and creative. You'll happily accept the label of "geek." You may have a lot of brainpower, but you're not a nerdy wimp. You also have a lot of physical power.

Which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Are You?

Blogthings: Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

Which Ninja Turtle are you?

I'm on a roll

That's right.
A Roll.
I'm on one.
Not to eat, but because my knitting has been moving along quite well.
(Hope I don't jinx myself!)
One pair of socks finished, four other pairs on the needles, and one new pair started.
Still love the Kitchener Stitch.
I don't mind getting to the end of my socks because the Kitchener Stitch does not baffle me.
I actually understand it!
Math - that I don't get - but the Kitchener Stitch - that I get.
Perhaps we were related, Earl Kitchener and I.
Speaking of food, and being a kitchener (see link above)....now we were, weren't we?
Remember?
Way up there!
Rolls - Food - Kitchener - get it?
I got a wonderful cookbook in the mail last week.
I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but Wow - and I mean WOW!
The recipes in here are for some good, down home, simple cooking.
And the front cover pictures my favorite comfort food:

Odd, don't you think, that they called it Simple Comforts especially with a picture of some wonderful tomato soup and grilled cheese on the cover - it's like they knew!
Oh yummy, yummy, yummy.
And the cost is not all that high - I got my copy through Amazon (and no, this is not a shameless or paid plug).
Just sharing the love.

Not new music, but relatively new to me

Too good not to share:



Lovely.

And just to provide some variety, here's her cover of a Kinks song:



For the record, this song, "Village Green Preservation Society" is the theme song for the British tv show "Clatterford" known in England as "Jam and Jerusalem" which leads me to three questions that remain unanswerable, but I'll ask them anyway:

1) why does the name always have to be changed (or dumbed down) for Americans, i.e., Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone became the Sorcerer's Stone

2) why is British tv so much better than American tv

3) why does American tv always have to remake a British show only to see it fail miserably nine times out of ten (the only success being "The Office")

Do Audiobooks Count?

The other day I joked and told a co-worker that I was considering making a resolution to make 365 resolutions this year, one for each day.
Somehow, though, that doesn't seem like too bad an idea.
Everyday is supposed to be a fresh start, so why not be able to resolve each day to do something new, or correct something that you failed at the day before.
One of my actual resolutions, or goals, this year is to read more.
Fortunately I got a head start during December, so I'm sure my momentum will carry me through the year.
Through GoodReads I decided to challenge myself to reading 175 books this year.
This shouldn't be too hard, however, if the calibre of books I continue to read are commensurate with what I'm reading now: cozy mysteries.
You know the type of books that are no more than 200 pages each, not quite high literature at all.
I know that the one odd Charles Dickens book, or the Norse literature that is in my "To Read" queue will completely throw me off my goal because those books can often take days to read when they're not languishing in the "Half-Read Book" pile.
This is why I'm front loading the shorter texts in my challenge, so that later on I can actually have a chance to reach my goal.
Kind of cheating (myself) don't you think?
Of course I'm still driven to knit with purpose (and purposefully knit) this year, so this raises a conundrum for a bibliophile/chain reader such as myself.
When I'm knitting and listening to an audiobook (currently The Distant Hours, great book, spectacular prose), does that audiobook count towards my total read?
I say yes, my little Guppy says no.
What say you?

Sometimes I forget that the musician wants me to buy more than just one album

See how I used the word "album" in the title?
That's how I'll always date myself.
I mix the word CD into my conversation every now and then, but to me a compilation of 10-12 songs will always be an "album".
Anyway, that's not what I'm here to talk about.
And the other thing I won't talk about is knitting because at chez moi none has been getting done.
Perhaps tonight while watching my little Guppy swim I'll knit.
What I am here to talk about is a musician, one who passed away today: Gerry Rafferty



This is probably not the song you're used to hearing by him, but his album "City to City" is one of my choices for a perfect album meaning that every cut on it is perfect. To me at least.
And I will always love this album, and think fondly of this very talented man.
His voice is smooth and soothing, and will always remind of 1978.
As I'm writing this I've listened to "The Ark" three times, and "Baker Street" four times.
Still not sick of it!
Unfortunately, I never explored any of his other music.
I'm sure he would have liked to have been known as an evolving artist, and not as a man who is known only for his album "City to City" or even by the single "Baker Street" from that album.



You probably also remember him as the lead singer of Stealer's Wheel (hit single - "Stuck in the Middle With You"), but I bet he was much more than that.
And now he will be just a memory.
Fortunately many of us have fond memories of Gerry Rafferty.
I actually feel quite emotional, as if part of my childhood is gone, but you know that train left the station a long time ago, so I guess I am just sad.
Well at least we have his music.
Some people don't even leave that much behind.

Retrospective

Let's talk about paper dolls for a minute.
Remember them?
Some may, and some may not.
I think paper dolls are definitely not as popular now as they were when I was a child.
For one thing I don't think children now have the patience to actually cut, or punch out, all the dolls and clothing.
And for another reason, they usually want something a bit more tangible.
Fortunately my mother has kept all of my paper dolls, and I like to pull them out every once in a while and look at them.
They are so dated, but I love them. One set of paper dolls that I absolutely love is mostly because their clothes epitomize high fashion to me: my Dawn paper dolls.
Do you remember Dawn Dolls?
Here's what one of the paper dolls looked like, and this is the dress that came with the Dawn doll:

Dawn Dolls hit their height of popularity in the early '70s, and then died.
Probably because they weren't as big as Barbie dolls, and by that I mean in size.
(Another reason no one plays with paper dolls anymore is because they're so prone to ripping, as evidenced in the above photo.)
The dolls were much smaller in size than Barbie, but they did try to market them.
In another instance of "It's amazing what you can find on YouTube", here is a video of some Dawn Doll commercials and infomercials:

 

Watching that video makes me want all those Dawn Dolls!

Should I check out eBay?

You have to remember, I was only 7 years old when they came out, so to say my fashion sense is often stuck in the '70s would be an understatement.

Now one thing I've always said, or at least in recent years, is that if I ever won the lottery I would get an entire wardrobe made from the clothes my Dawn paper dolls have.

I love the look of them that much.

Some of the clothes would work in any era.

Take this snazzy little mini-dress:

 I could totally rock this outfit - maxi coat anyone?

And then some of the clothes just don't work....in any era.
Can't you see yourself heading towards your harvest gold refrigerator in this outfit?

And this one might work if you stopped trying to wear draperies for clothing:

 And I can't even figure out what to do with this hot mess:

So yeah, if I EVER win the lottery, and you see some hot mama walking down the street wearing new/vintage 1970's-style clothing, well you know it will be me.

Anyone want to come over and play paper dolls?

And here we are on Binary Day

I write that title like I'm some kind of computer whiz.
I'm not.
My son actually told me that it is Binary Day - you know, 01/01/11 - because I'm not smart enough to realize that.
Unfortunately I didn't finish my goal yesterday of knitting those socks, but I have a great excuse.
Honestly.
I made a batch of 16 Bean Soup, and then canned 8 pint jars.
Plus we took my mother out for dinner, and then I fell asleep in the chair from 9-11:00, and was awakened so I could be alert when the new year came in.
I didn't get much done on my socks today either, as the puppy woke me up at 5:00, and then after cleaning the kitchen I made a batch of Split Pea Soup and canned that as well.
Love, love, love my pressure canner.
So this evening while watching - I hate to admit this - the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (I know! shoot me!), I picked up my first sock and am past the gusset and working on the foot.
Now I'm heading back upstairs to work on it again.
Good night, y'all, and hope you have a wonderful new year!