Red Shoe Ramblings

I've Moved! Please Come Visit!

2006-12-10T17:42:00.000-05:00

I didn't mean to do this until the first of the year, but I seem to have done a booboo that left me no choice....oops! So please come visit over HERE at the new home of Red Shoe Ramblings. I don't have my own header yet and my sidebar's a mess, but the welcome mat is out! Also, if you have me on your blogroll or links list, or if you subscribe to this blog's feed, please change to the new URL. Thanks! (And sorry to be a pain, but I decided I've dealt with the vagaries of Blogger long enough!)

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2006-12-10T16:09:00.000-05:00

nothing to see here...

The Good, the Good, the Annoying, and the Interesting

2006-12-10T00:52:00.000-05:00

The Good: Voting has now ended for the story contests. I would normally stick a link in that previous sentence, but I just flat don't feel like messing with it. If you don't know what I mean, look at yesterday's post. Or the day before. Or the day before that. Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote and tomorrow I'll post the winnahs! The Good: Check out what I got in the mail yesterday from Janet: How cool is that! It's hanging on my inspiration board now. Thank you, Janet! It's beautiful! :-) The Annoying: Bloglines. Bloglines was really annoying yesterday. They kept having some sort of cyber-hiccups or something so that every time I turned around they were telling me that some blogs I like to read had 25 new posts each. 25 each, y'all! At one point they were trying to tell me that there were something like 600+ new entries posted on blogs I subscribe to. I thought for a brief moment that that some of you really DID find a source for Writagra and were totally hogging it! But it was all an illusion. The ones that would show massive new content really had nothing new, while the ones that had new stuff posted sometimes didn't show it at all. And here I started using Bloglines to make life easier. Yeah. The Interesting: Today's DAT is some willow leaves that fell from our curly willow tree and landed in this interesting pattern. Well, I thought it was interesting anyway. I hope you do too. It almost looks to me like it should mean something. "Willow Leaves" (clickable if you want to see it larger in a new window)

Where's the Writagra When You Need It?

2006-12-09T00:29:00.000-05:00

Hi! Thanks for stopping by. I'm so happy to see you! But, um...I've got nuttin' today. Well, ok, that isn't entirely true. I have bunches of scribbled notes on the paper scattered around my desk, notes about possible future blog post ideas. And they're all things I really do want to talk about sometime. But as I look through them right now my reaction is Nope. No. Naw, not that one. Unh uh, I don't feel like writing about that one right now either. What we have here is is a failure to perform by the part of my brain that normally produces this BlogWritingStuff. I'm told it's nothing to worry about - that it happens to everyone now and then and I shouldn't make a big deal of it. I should just relax, try not to worry, give myself some time, and try again later. But for now I think I'll just leave you with a wee ~~nag~~ reminder and a photo and then roll over and go to sleep. Just give me a little shove if I snore. Heh. Reminder: You have just slightly less than 24 hours from the time I'm posting this to vote for your favorite entry in the "Hot HubbaBubba" or "Not Tonight, I Have a Headache" story contests. You can read the stories and the rules for how to vote HERE. Voting closes at 11:59 US EST today and I'll announce the winners on Monday. Here's today's Daily Art Thang: "Climb" (clickable if you want to see it larger in a new window) And what the heck - just because it's been quite a while since I posted one, here's the results of a quiz I took recently:

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

They're right. I DO think the world would be a better place if people read more. :-)

A Glimpse of my World #2 (with a couple of oh-so-fascinating digressions)

2006-12-08T00:17:00.000-05:00

I want to share a few photos with you today. But first... Digression One: Before we get to the photos, here's a quick reminder that if you haven't voted yet for your favorite entry in the "Hot HubbaBubba" or "Not Tonight, I Have a Headache" story contests, you have today and tomorrow to get those votes in. You can read the entries HERE. And don't forget, only votes submitted by email count. If you tell me your favorites in the comments section, that's lovely and all, but it doesn't help the talented writer of your favorite story win a semi-fabulous prize. So email and vote! Digression Two: If you enjoy voting for those stories so much that you're looking all around just HOPING for something else to vote for, you could always try clicking HERE. Y'see, my website has been nominated to possibly be featured on the Indie-o-rama website if it gets enough votes. The catch is that you must be an Indie-o-rama member to vote, but if you are you can vote HERE. I'm nominated in the "Artists" category. If you aren't a member, you can join for free by clicking HERE (scroll down to the bottom for the free membership), and THEN go vote for me! You don't have to, of course. But if you do - Thank you! You're pretty! :-) Now on to the photos... Check out the handsome visitor who has been stopping by our house lately: I wish I knew his name, but I don't. He has a collar, but no name tag. We think we know who he belongs to - a neighbor we generally refer to as something that starts with a "B" and ends with an "itch." (Long story, but believe me she's earned the name.) He seems so sweet and if he was abandoned or obviously neglected I'd take him in, but I think he's being cared for physically. He just seems really lonely. (sigh....) Check out how green the grass is under his feet! That's what our yard looked like until yesterday, when we woke up to this: and this: I know it isn't much compared to the snow a lot of places around the US have already gotten lately, but it's the first snow we've seen around here this winter. It's prompted a lot of extra activity at the bird feeder that hangs outside our dining room window. We've been getting visitors like this guy: and these: Naturally, as soon as I put the camera away, a cardinal and a downy woodpecker visited. Pppffft. Earlier this week I took some full moon photos two nights in a row. Tuesday night the moon had the strongest, most colorful ring around it I think I've ever seen. It was like a ring-shaped rainbow. I tried to use the timer to capture it and while it isn't perfect, this next photo will give you the idea. It's also today's Daily Art Thang. "Moon Ring" (clickable if you want to see it larger in a new window) Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Poetry Thursday: It Seems Like a Meme

2006-12-07T00:21:00.000-05:00

The prompt this week on Poetry Thursday is something a little different - a meme! Anyone who has spent any time around RSR at all knows I looooves me some memes, so excuse me a moment while I do a happy little Snoopy Dance around the room. (lalala lalala lalaaaaa....lalalaaa lalalaaaa....) Aaahhh, that was fun. Now on to the meme. The part supplied by the prompt is in bold type while the answers I added are in not-so-bold type. 1. The first poem I remember reading/hearing/reacting to was probably Dr. Seuss. (And don't EVEN try to tell me that "Green Eggs and Ham" isn't poetry!) 2. I was forced to memorize "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" in school and um....well...nothing really. There is no "and" to that. That would be the first poem I remember being required to memorize, but I don't recall it having any significant impact on my life other than being a handy way to remember the signal in the church tower..."one if by land, and two if by sea, and I on the opposite shore will be, ready to ride and spread the alarm, to every Middlesex village and farm..." 3. I read~~/don't read~~ poetry because it makes my heart sing and makes images dance through my head. 4. A poem I'm likely to think about when asked about a favorite poem is "High Flight." I know y'all must get tired of me bringing that one up so often, but it's one of the very first poems that ever made me want to read more poetry. 5. I write~~/don't write~~ poetry, but not very often, and not very confidently. 6. My experience with reading poetry differs from my experience with reading other types of literature because for me poetry is more about the language itself - the rhythms and imagery of the words - and the feelings they evoke; while reading novels is more about the characters and the plot as driven by those characters, and if those stories happen to contain beautiful language and imagery then yay!...so much the better...but that's not why I read novels. 7. I find poetry in unexpected phrases that get stuck in my head and spark other images. Also, I find poetry in the poetry section of my book shelves. Ahem. 8. The last time I heard poetry was probably when I listened to an audio link posted by other bloggers. I seldom read poems aloud (although I really should!) and I'm not exactly in a part of the country that's big on poetry readings. 9. I think poetry is like a painting made of words. That doesn't mean I think it needs to be "pretty," just that it needs to capture something...some moment in time, some emotion or dream, some glimpse of truth, whether beautiful or ugly or anywhere in between. It's a way of looking at life and the world around us a little differently than we normally do. Here's today's Daily Art Thang: "Entanglement" (clickable if you want to see it larger in a new window) Want to hear more about the world of poetry? Then check out links at the Poetry Thursday blog.

Read and Vote and Vote!

2006-12-06T00:27:00.000-05:00

Today I'm going to switch things around and share the Daily Art Thang first and after that you get to read the fabulicious contest entries and I'll tell you how to vote for your favorite! DAT, taken while on a walk with J: "Silhouette" (clickable if you want to see it larger in a new window) Now on to The Contest! Most of you will know what this is all about, but in case it's your first time here (lately or ever!) read this first so you know what the rules of the contest were. Go ahead, I'll wait. Lalalalalaaaaaa.... Back? Good! Then on to the vote! Here's how the voting will work: 1. I've posted all entries received - three for Contest One and seven for Contest two - anonymously, with just a number assigned to them. If any of these stories included the author's name within the body of the story (and a couple did!) I will substitute "Ms. X" for the name to keep it anonymous. 2. After you read the stories, please vote for your favorite for each contest. So you are allowed two votes total - one for the first contest, one for the second. If you entered, you are (of course!) more than welcome to vote for your own entry or entries! You are also welcome to link to this post on your blog and ask your friends to vote, but I ask that you please don't tell them which story is yours. You just have to trust that they'll have the good taste to like yours best. :-) 3. To vote, send an email with either "contest one" or "contest two" in the subject line and the number of the entry you are voting for in the body of the email. Send it to this address: tansy @ kywirelesscollc.com (remove the spaces on either side of the "@" to make that functional!). I'm asking that you send a separate email for each contest. Kind of a PITA, I know, sorry...but I have separate folders set up to collect votes for each contest and it will make it a thousand times easier on me if y'all send individual votes. Combined ones will make me grumpy. :-) ONLY email votes will count!!! If you merely say what your favorite is in the comments section, it does NOT count as a vote for that story!! 4. Voting will end Saturday night, Dec. 9th, 11:59 PM, US Eastern Standard Time, and winners will be announced here on Monday, Dec. 11th. If there is a tie for either contest, the tie will be broken by the time-honored "pick a name from a hat" method. 5. One final thought before we get to the entries...If you leave comments about the stories here in the comments section, please remember that the lovely, kind, and BRAVE people who wrote these and sent them in for your reading pleasure will be reading what you say about their stories, so be nice! :-) Ok, on to the stories at last... Contest One - the sex stories (Have no fear, these are all PG-rated...well, ok, maybe PG-13) ------------------------------ #1 We met, strangely enough, at the vet’s. I brought my bird named Trixie. Trixie was coughing and losing feathers. Teaching her to say, "Is that a pistol in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" seemed like a good idea at the time. Turns out that Alan is an old movie buff. He brought his dog, Sam, to the vet’s the same day. Sam had chewed a rubber chicken in half and was suffering a slight digestive problem. Rubber chickens will do that..... Alan is tall, like me, blond hair and blue eyed. Those dreamy, get-lost-inside blue eyes. We met for coffee the next day. One thing lead to another and we were at his house. He lured me there with a promise to watch the "Jump the Shark" episode from Happy Days on DVD. After a cup of Irish coffee, I couldn’t care less what Richie was up to. All I wanted to do was kiss that man. We headed for the bedroom taking clothes off along the way. This is not my usual MO. I like to get to know someone first. It is better to know that they happen to have pink, fur-lined handcuffs in the bedside table, BEFORE, you end up in bed with them on your wrists. (Don’t ask how I found that out!) We spent the afternoon wrapped in his sheets, talking, laughing, and, well, you know. It seems Alan was really happy to see me.

Trixie? She and Sam both recovered. They spend a lot of time together, just like Alan and me. --------------------------------- #2 He came to her window again tonight. His visits had resumed after a long absence. An absence for which she only had herself to blame. He had come to her in silent adoration and she had driven him away with unkind words. But it must be true what they say about absence,for she had thought about him often during that time. And thinking about him made her crazy with a desire she couldn't name. She would stretch out on the bed and roll from side to side. Or she would lie on the floor, and pushing down with her feet, glide her body across the cool tiles. Or she would crouch in anticipation, like a cat in heat. Had he sensed that? Is that why he had started coming around again? But it was different now. HE was different somehow. He had started bringing her things. Strange things. Like last time he brought her a rubber chicken. What was he thinking? Did he really believe he could win her heart with that? (Now if he had brought her that damn noisy bird Trixie that lived down the hall...that would have been a different story!) And the time before that, it had been a pair of pink fur-lined handcuffs. What need did she have for little pink handcuffs? She already had her beloved little pink socks!

She sighed. And now here he was at her window tonight with the strangest, and,in her opinion,most useless offering of all. A “Happy Days” DVD. The one with the episode of the Fonz on water skis. She sighed again. She had always thought he was a pretty cool cat. Kinda funky. But now, he was ...well..he was just bizarre!!! She was going to have to tell him it was over between them. She tried to let him down as easily as she could. “You've really jumped the shark with this one, sweetie!” she said. Her words echoed in her head as he disappeared into the darkness. Jumped the shark...shark...shark... SHARK! The word hit her hard. FISH!!! YUM!!! ------------------------------------- #3 Deb missed Jon. He’d been gone all week for work and was due home tonight. If she could just come up with something, she could concentrate on making a wonderful welcome home dinner for him. Deb was a comedy writer for SNL and had been trying to convince Jon she wanted to be a serious writer. But to look at her now, with the pink fur-lined handcuffs and rubber chicken on the couch beside her, and DVD of the “Jump the Shark” episode from “Happy Days” beginning for what seemed like the hundredth time, she was still clueless for material for the opening sketch they needed for their guest host this week. She’d exchanged her pajamas for an old flannel shirt and shorts this morning and spent the day watching that episode so many times that her parrot, Trixie, was beginning to recite bits of dialog. There was a knock on her door; Jon was back early! Deb threw a pillow over the chicken and handcuffs and paused the DVD then rushed to the door to let him in. The door was barely shut when his snowy coat hit the floor. Lips locked, they inched toward the couch. Slowly, Jon unbuttoned the top button on her flannel shirt; this signaled a change in their relationship as he lowered her down onto the couch. He reached beneath her to pull the pillow from under her, only to have the chicken and handcuffs tumble to the floor. From his position over her he looked from the floor to the picture of Fonzie frozen on the TV screen and back to her face. He just smiled and, as he reached for the handcuffs, Trixie said, “Aaaaay. Cool.”

******************************** Contest Two - the excuses --------------------------------- #1 I had just finished typing up the sex scene you requested, and as it was set in the 1940s, of curse (oops, I meant course) I was using my beautiful old Smith Corona portable typewriter. Just as I hit the last key, Captain Jack Sparrow burst in bearing gifts, and by gifts I mean a pair of pink fur-lined handcuffs he'd picked up in Tortuga...said he traded a keg of rum for them, but knowing the good Captain, it was more probably a quite nearly empty glass he'd traded...along with that "shiver my timbers" grin of his. So the story was put aside for the time being, while we ensured the handcuffs 1) fit and 2) worked properly...and they most certainly did! We promptly fell asleep and when I awoke, I made the following discoveries: Captain Jack was gone, there was a rubber chicken, a shark & a Fonzie doll in his place, a DVD was playing in my VCR (I believe it was a Happy Days episode, where the Fonz is water skiing), and Trixie, my bird, was out of her cage and had a big evil grin on her lil beak. I got up, put on some coffee, and wandered over to the typewriter to take the page I'd typed the sex scene on out. To my horror, there were splotches of bird poop, completely hardened and covering most of the page. When I tried to pry it off, the letters underneath were gone, whole sentences of letters. This, of course, explains why Trixie was grinning. Damn that bird! ------------------------------ #2 I had every intention of writing a sex scene. I even found some pink fluffy handcuffs at our party store, because I thought a playful night of fooling around would give me fresh ideas. The best laid plans.. While I was shopping, I forgot to turn the oven down, so the object of the planned fun and games arrived home to dried-out casserole. He was particularly grumpy about it, made disparaging remarks about being forced to eat rubber chicken for dinner. So. off to a shaky start, amorous feelings were diminishing fast. However, not deterred easily, I slunk off to slip into a skimpy robe that l use when I need to bring out the big guns! How was I to know that at this moment my cat was hopping through the window with the neighbor's parrot, Trixie, clenched in his jaws? The neighbor followed, screeching louder than Trixie, and she only stopped when her eyes fell on me, leaping around in the famous little number, trying to save the unimpressed bird. Retrieving her pet, she backed out of the door with bulging eyes. I was hoping the beloved would see the funny side of this, but no, he gave me an ear-bashing about humiliating him in front of the neighborhood. We plunked down on the couch, flicking half-heartedly through the channels..nothing! So we put on our DVD of old Happy Days episodes, and as the Fonz found himself riding the shark, I was mumbling to myself that I would rather be doing that than riding this mean tempered old man next to me. I sat down at my keyboard with every intention of writing a sex scene, but not a saucy thought popped into my mind, and I realized I would need the mental equivalent of female Viagra to make this article happen... ----------------------------- #3 Deb, Ms. X will not be writing you a sex scene involving a rubber chicken, a pair of pink fur-lined handcuffs, a bird named Trixie, and a DVD of the Happy Days "Jump the Shark" episode. She was right there with you, thinking how much she would enjoy that postcard, until reading the list of required words. She's pretty sure she could get one hot enough and still reasonably clean with anything playing on the DVD in the background, including the "Jump the Shark" Happy Days episode. It's a bit harder to tune out a bird, especially one named Trixie, when you have two characters getting it on, but it's doable. And what's not to love about pink, fur-lined handcuffs? They are pink, soft and fuzzy, and if a burglar breaks in on the middle of the sex scene, can be put to a secondary practical purpose. No, it was the rubber chicken that was the deal breaker. Rubber chickens remind Ms. X of her father, who played many practical jokes that involved rubber chickens. (Helpful Hint: The proper preparation of a rubber chicken for any prank is to first fill it with baby powder, which can also be sexy - the powder, not the chicken full of powder, that is.) And thinking of dear old dad shut down Ms. X's sex scene creativity in less than the proverbial heart beat. She's now busily scrubbing some unwanted images from her mental processes. Therefore, please excuse Ms. X from writing a sex scene for your contest. Respectfully, Ms. X's totally traumatized subconscious -------------------------- #4 My coworkers were dancing on their desks and imbibing in “holiday cheer” Friday afternoon. Instead, I was sitting at my own desk using my work computer to write my DebR sex scene when my drunk boss entered my cube armed with mistletoe. When I tried to dodge his advances, he made a grab for my arm and the next thing I knew he had joined our wrists with pink fur-lined handcuffs. I let out a bloodcurdling scream which prompted a coworker to call 911. When the paddy wagon came, my boss and I (still cuffed together) were hauled off to jail where we were stashed in the drunk tank with a man dressed as a pirate with a parrot he called Trixie duct taped to his shoulder and a businessman from Peoria who kept asking me if I was Rachael Ray. After the booking sergeant and his buddies finished making crap out of the “Jump the Shark” episode of “Happy Days” they were watching when we were brought in, they finally unlocked the fur-lined cuffs and let me go when I proved that I hadn’t had anything to drink and was a victim of circumstance. By the time I returned to the office, I was met at the door by a security guard who escorted me to my cubicle, where I found my computer wiped clean and my personal belongings and a misguided rubber chicken leftover from the holiday party packed into a cardboard box on my desk. The office manager had found my sex scene and told me I was not to return. I didn’t have a chance to e-mail the sex scene home so, sadly, I will be unable to participate in our contest. -------------------------- #5 Actually I was all ready to sit down and write this wonderful love scene. But, it has been a hell of a week. The kids are just driving me crazy. Just yesterday I came home from work to find our seven-year-old Lizzie handcuffed to the bed with a pair of pink fur-lined handcuffs. I freaked out. Seems Johnny, who is seven-years-old and lives next door is the one who was doing the handcuffing. In my sternest voice I told him to uncuff my daughter immediately and no I did not want to know what his mommy and daddy did when mommy had on the handcuffs. I always wondered about them! Julianne, who has now become a teenager, has suddenly developed an interest in the old "Happy Days" and seems to think that the "Jump the Shark" episode is okay for her to watch twenty-four hours a day. But, you know what they are like when they are teenagers. There is just no way to control them. Adam decided he would try out his science experiment in my oven. Have you ever smelled a burned rubber chicken? I spent hours trying to get the smell out of the house and damn near froze my butt off because I had to leave the windows open for two days. Oh, but the best was Clyde came home from a business trip this week and it seems he won a bird named Trixie in a poker game. Of course, he arrived about the time the pastor showed up to see how we were doing. Pastor James looked at the bird and said, "Oh, what a lovely parrot, you are!" to which Trixie replied, "Oh, fuck a duck!" Honey, I never realized Pastor James had false teeth until I saw them on my carpet. I know all this isn't a great excuse, but, I am just exhausted and I don't think I could think of a sex scene if I tried. Your friend, Ms. X(2) ---------------------------------- #6 I was SO SO going to write the sex story (though mine would be closer to an nc-17, I think, than a pg rating). so, here's what happened...this morning as I went to write the story, I realized I needed to get some food for the peacock. Trixie was (and still is!) screaming her fool head off as only peacocks can truly do. CPS is going to come at any moment thinking I am physically harming a child. yeah yeah, she needs food. what's a girl to do. I realized that my fabulous pink and fuzzy handcuffs HAD to come off. I couldn't very well go to the store with the handcuffs dangling from one of my wrists, now could I? I mean, I KNOW people in this town. rob had managed to abscond with HIS copy of the special key and he'd neglected to tell me where the extra was. so, off to the phone I went. rob had no IDEA where the extra set was. he hears Trixie hollering in the background. he even started feeling a little bad about leaving me in this predicament. He called me back just a few minutes ago and asked if I'd found it. nope. still nothing. where ARE they? At this point, I figure it's just as likely that they're in the inside that upidstay shark that the fonz had to jump over in what was probably one of THE lamest episodes of Happy Days ever (what was rob THINKING when he bought that DVD?) as it is that they're in the house somewhere. because my house is rarely spic and span, finding them is proving.ahem.difficult. and because I'm frantic about the lost key, there is no way that I can get in the mood to write a fabulous sex scene. the only thing that in my head that I can write down is some nonsense about a rubber chicken - now really, how sexy is THAT? so clearly, I can't do it. it would be in bad taste. and my handcuffs keep knocking on the keyboard. so sorry. -Ms. X (3) ps - I really have well and truly lost my keys and it's just about killing me! ---------------------------- #7 The Best of Intentions By Ms. X (4) Working away late one night on my first novel, I paused and stretched my weary arms in the air and rolled my neck to loosen the tight muscles.My heroine had just had a scathing and witty exchange with the handsome young stud of a police detective. The electricity was in the flowing between their catty barbs and the underlying chemistry between the two was boiling to the surface. This would be an excellent point for a steamy sex scene, but could I really pull this off? Did a Bible study leader and Sunday school teacher really have it in her to write something realistic? I settled into the computer and stared at the screen. Nothing. I opened another document and started typing random words to use in the scene. “Rapturous, quivering, milky . . .” I felt a little bit of bile in the back of my throat. Good grief, this wasn’t a trashy romance novel. Hmmm . . . how to write a classy, mature, really authentic sex scene? I decided to look for some inspiration. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. I flipped through our DVD collection. Fantasia – fireworks, but not the right kind. The Little Mermaid – well the girl could wear a seashell bra and carry it off. The Best of Happy Days – The Fonz. Now there was some smoldering sexy. Flipping to the back cover the picture of the Fonz on water-skis made me chuckle. Nothing like “jumpin’ the shark” to suck the sexy out of a leather jacketed icon. Giving up on the DVDs, I decided to flip on the television to see if inspiration was waiting somewhere on cable TV. On the first channel – one of the gazillion Law and Order series’. “Detective – are you telling me the only witness to this murder is the owner’s bird” “Trixie, Your Honor. Her name is Trixie.” Hmmm – is it too late to introduce a slut named Trixie into the storyline? Make a note of that. She could cause problems for the happy couple – IF I CAN EVER GET THEM TOGETHER!!! Change the channel. Oh wait, this looks promising. Nip Tuck – soft core porn on basic cable. Perfect! Wow, that Christian Troy is a sexy guy. But wait a minute, what is he doing? What is that in his hand? Oh my . . .is that. . .a rubber chicken? (The gag reflex automatically starts to fire again and I have no desire to revisit the dinner I choked down earlier in the evening.) I snatched up the remote and turned off the TV. Now it was time for the big guns. Sneaking into my bedroom and moving with all the stealth and silence I could muster as not to wake up Brad, I opened my lingerie drawer and reached to the back for a small white box. Inside, was a gift from my bridal shower, some friend of my mom’s thought it was such a clever and kinky gift - pink fur-lined handcuffs. I never told my husband about them thinking I’d never have a use for such a thing. But low and behold, they might be just the talisman this gal needed to get some steamy inspiration. I laid them on the desk and stared at them for ages. Picking them up, I twirled them around a few times. I wonder how these things work? Click. Crap. Well, you can probably guess the rest. The sex scene never got written, and my husband couldn’t stop laughing as he drove me to the locksmith the next morning to have my fuzzy pink handcuffs removed from my hands. The characters will have to wait for the blush to clear from my face before I can get back to their potential for some – er – resolution. ---------------------------- And that's it, y'all! Time to email in those votes. Remember, you get one per contest. :-)

SPC: Red, Week 1 - From Glam to Real Life

2006-12-05T00:29:00.000-05:00

The December theme for the Self-Portrait Challenge is RED! Considering the name of my blog, I bet it won't come as a great shock to anyone to hear that I really like this theme. This is one of those months when my problem won't be coming up with ideas. The problem will be narrowing down those ideas to just one per week! I really liked last month's Glam theme too, although I chose to go for a more Hollywood version than a rock-n-roll version. Ironically the Glam theme inspired me to go out and buy my first-ever tube of red lipstick. I've owned almost-red before...a sort of reddish-brown called "Cocoa", and an almost burgundy-ish shade called "Raisin", but never red until now. I'm still not sure I'm comfortable with it, but it's kind of cool knowing it's in my make-up bag if I want to use it, which is what I did for this first photo: "Red Lips" But that photo doesn't feel very much like ME. That photo is still just me playing dress-up for the camera, just like I did all last month, and that's fun but not something I want to do all the time. So my real self-portrait for this week, the one that shows a much more typical view of my love for the color red is this one: "Red Shoes for Real Life" (clickable if you want to see it larger in a new window)

Random Items from the Junk Drawer of my Mind #34

2006-12-04T01:11:00.000-05:00

1. Here's one final ~~annoying plea~~ last-call reminder about the infamous story contest. You have less than twenty-four hours to send me a fun little story for your chance to win a Box o' Goodies! (Click here for details.) TickTock, TickTock... The entries will be posted here on Wednesday, at which time all you wonderful RSR visitors get to help me choose a pair of winners! 2. Sending out big Happy Birthday wishes to my nephew, Josh, who is turning 16 today. Happy Birthday, Josh! Let me know when I should start hiding my car keys. :-) 3. I used to be soSO into all things Christmas. The baking, the decorating, the shopping for and wrapping of gifts. Any more....not so much. I've been almost Scrooge-like the past couple of years. I've gotten to where I do the vast majority of what shopping I do online (although I still enjoy wrapping gifts). And I didn't do much baking, or decorate at all last year. But this year my family and I are reviving the baking tradition, and I got a Spirit-of-Christmassy wild hair the other day and put up a tree. I'm kind of proud of myself for putting up a tree this year, but still, looking through my old photos shows what may be a disturbing trend. Take a look... December, 1998: December, 2002: December, 2005: But this is an improvement over that last one, right? December, 2006: It's little and it's fake, but hey, it's a tree with tinsel and a star on top. Yeah, baby! 4. THANK YOU to everyone who was supportive in the face of my big fat whine yesterday. You guys are the best! 5. Here's today's Daily Art Thang, an old foot bridge in the woods, that is now turning itself into a moss garden of sorts: "Shattered" (clickable)

You Come For Fun, I Give You a Little Nag and Whine (yeah, baby!)

2006-12-03T08:18:00.000-05:00

The Nag Here's yet another ~~annoying shove~~ gentle reminder before we get to anything else. You still have the better part of two days to send me a silly little story and have a chance to win Fun Stuff! (Click here for details.) And don't be surprised when you see yet another ~~nag~~ mention of this tomorrow. So far the competition is small, but mighty. And those of you who have been brave enough to enter Contest One are doing a great job of meeting the challenge while still keeping things PG-rated. Thank you! :-) And if you want to read the story that was the reply to the challenge that started it all, check out Dragonfly's story. Keep in mind hers is much longer than what I'm asking for from y'all for the contest, since this whole thing started as more of a dare between friends, but I thought she did a super-fabulous job of meeting the challenge. Brava, Dragonfly!!! Your postcard will be in the mail in the next couple of days. And the Whine (pass the cheese...) I've been taking photos to possibly use for the December Self-Portrait Challenge theme of Red and I can already tell this is going to be one of those months when I have more photos I like than weeks to use them. The November and December themes were/are both things that I loved, so what do you want to bet that January - which contains 5 Tuesdays - will have a theme that makes me cringe. It just always seems to work that way. Heh. But now, I'm going to admit something not-too-pretty here. I'm finding myself with a wee bit of an Attitude Problem about the SPC at the moment and I'm working on getting past that. The point of the challenge should be for me to do it for myself - as a way to creatively interpret a theme with a subject (me!!) that doesn't always make me comfortable (although participating in the SPC for so long really has made me more comfortable with having my photo taken than I've ever been in my life). Mostly I think I DO do it just for the creative satisfaction. But there's that small, fiercely competitive part of me that craves recognition, and that part wants a nod now and then from the features editors. I found myself feeling a teensy bit discouraged and bitter to have put so much effort into the posts I did for the November theme only to not be given a mention by even a single features editor for a single week. I've been letting that suck some of the joy from the December theme for me...having just a bit of a "why bother" sort of attitude toward it. SO, my goal for today is to get right the hell over myself and come up with something FUN to post for Tuesday without getting my panties in a twist if the Powers That Be of the challenge don't think it's "good enough." Pppffftt! (Psssttt, Morven....Sorry about the "panties" thing...hehehe) I figure if I set that goal publicly I have to follow through. :-) Daily Art Thang "Intersection" (clickable if you want to see it larger)

A Post to Tell You Stuff You Never Knew You Wanted to Know

2006-12-02T00:27:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick ~~nag~~ reminder before we get to our regularly scheduled post. Don't forget, you have slightly less than three more days to send me a little story and have a chance to win some semi-fabulous prizes! (Click here for details.) The postcards are finished and the other stuff is purchased and it's all stuff I'd enjoy getting in the mail myself so I hope the winners will like it too. How bad could it be to get some Free Stuff in the mail, yes? :-) So write away, my lovelies...write away right away, before the deadline creeps up on you! Now here, in RSR Saturday tradition, is a meme. I snagged this one from Angela, who borrowed it from Kristen. When is the last time you held hands with someone? Wednesday, when J and I took a walk together. He left town early Thursday morning and only got home a couple of hours ago and went straight to bed, so unless you count getting my dog Riley to "shake" there have been no hand-holding opportunities since then. You wake up as the opposite gender, what's the first thing you do? Probably scream like a little girl. Oh come on...don't tell me that wouldn't freak YOU right the hell out! Figuring out interesting stuff to try would come later, after the hysterical fit. Have you ever touched an electric fence? Not on purpose but yes, I've accidentally touched one before. They hurt every bit as much as you'd think they would. Where is your mom? Physically she's gone, but I believe she's around me and my family. Morning or night person? Night. SoSoooo night. What is the last movie you watched? At the cinema: Casino Royale At home: Some sappy Hallmark thing that made me cry. I don't know why I feel compelled to watch those things when I KNOW they make me cry and I HATE that! Things about the opposite sex you notice first? Eyes, smile, hands, height (or lack thereof) Ever been in love? Have been and am. What's something your friends make fun of you for? How foggy-headed and grumpy I often am first thing in the morning. (Did I mention the part about being a night person??) What is your curfew? Aaahh, and here we discover that this is yet another meme that must have been written by a teener for his or her MySpace page. One of these days I'm going to write a meme that asks stuff like how much life insurance a person has, and how many prescriptions they currently take, and do they prefer Arnica Gel or Ben-Gay for their various aches and pains. I'm just sayin'... So ok, dear Teener, one of the deals of not being a teener anymore is that you set your very own curfews, even when you choose badly, which I often do. I stay up later than I probably should pretty much every night, but even when I'm wide awake at 2 AM, I'm not breaking a curfew. RahRah for adulthood! Heh. Would you ever dye your hair red? Of course not! I'm appalled at the very IDEA!! Bwahahahahaaaaaaaa!! What's your worst personality flaw? I'm just too, TOO perfect. (Kidding....y'all know I'm kidding, right?) I hate questions like this. I have so many flaws to choose from, but I don't particularly like to focus on any of them! For today let's go with the flaw of excessive self-indulgence. Or oooooh, how about the flaw of an unnatural fondness for exclamation points!!!!! :-) What career would you wish to be in? Jet-setting heiress. Hey, don't ask if you don't want to know. Which country would you like to visit? It's a tie between Italy, Greece, and New Zealand. Oh! And since seeing Casino Royale, I also really want to see Montenegro. And y'know I've always been interested in seeing France and the UK. And ooooh, Spain and Switzerland, Prague, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the Scandinavian countries...yeah, let's just say pretty much all of Europe. Iceland looks pretty. And I'd love to see the Forbidden City and Great Wall in China. And Egypt. I'd really like to see the pyramids and the Sphinx. Oh! And since seeing Sue's photos I want to visit her in South Africa. Edited to add: Yes, Caity, Australia too! (Can't believe I forgot to mention that one. Oops!) Now do you see WHY I want to be a jet-setting heiress?? Do you want a well paying job or a job you enjoy? Sure, both - thanks! If I can't be a jet-setting heiress, that'd be great. When do I start? Do you wish to have the same best friends when you're older? Yeah, that'd be good. Do you believe in needing religion? I believe I need (and have) a connection to something greater than myself in my life, but for me that need is not tied to organized religion. Where's your dad? Kentucky, around an hour and a half drive from here. When were you last on the phone? Yesterday, with J. What shoes are you wearing today? At the moment I don't have on "real" shoes. I'm wearing fleece-lined pink suede clog-style house slippers. Do you like math? I detest it and the feeling is mutual. Numbers simply don't behave properly for me. Think I'm kidding? Ask me sometime to share the story about my checking account and the tricksy numbers that even freaked out some people who worked for the bank. What about history? I find it fascinating when it's told in a way that makes it real. So many history books are so dry. But when it comes alive and we get that these were real people, just like us, and the story of their very real struggles - like I said...fascinating. Have you ever seen 5 squirrels at one time? What an utterly bizarre question! I've certainly seen more than one squirrel at a time, but I have absolutely no idea if I've ever seen exactly 5 at a time. What next, a question about if I've ever seen six swans or 12 dancing princesses? Can you touch your nose with your tongue? Not even close. Do you have a brother? Yep! Did your great granddad fight in the civil war? I don't think any of my great-grandfathers did. If you go back another great or so, there may have been some who did, but I don't know for sure. If any of them did, I don't know who, and I wouldn't know which side they fought for. My ancestors at that time (from both sides of the family) would've been living in southern Kentucky, near the Tennessee border, which was one of the areas of the US with the most deeply divided loyalties at that time. Do you like hugs? Depends entirely on who they're from. I LOVE hugs from people I like or love. Not so much from people I don't know well or don't like so much. Do you want to be a doctor? No. Although it might be fun to play one on TV. :-) (Raise your hand if you're old enough to get the pop culture reference.) What do you do right before you go to bed? Take off my glasses. Right when you get out of bed? Put on my glasses. Do you want to be famous? Not especially. It sounds inconvenient. Do you do your own laundry? Yep. Until I get that jet-setting heiress gig, there's no one else gonna do it for me! Wanna be tagged to do this meme on your blog? It's self-serve! Tell me so in comments and run with it, baby. :-) Daily Art Thang: "Fern Walk" (clickable if you want to see it larger in a new window)

November Bliss List in December, Complete with a Digression or Two

2006-12-01T00:28:00.000-05:00

It's Bliss List time again! Ok, it's actually a little PAST Bliss List time, since it's now the first day of December and I'm posting my list for November, but WhatEVER, Dude. I spent most of yesterday fighting mad hordes of Crazed Christmas Cshoppers (had to make it alliterative - don't ask me how to pronounce it) in order to get groceries because they say our weirdly warm weather (more alliteration!) is coming to an end today and we may get some snow and everyone in the civilized world knows that if the weather forecast calls for snow you must - MUST!! - go to the grocery store and buy bread and milk. It's a law or something. Please don't anyone tell the Grocery Police that I bought tortillas and pepper jack cheese and pomegranates instead. And some other food too, I forget what. And two books. Oh, and a tree! I bought a wee-teensy fake-o Christmas tree today. But more on that later, because it's Bliss List time! Here are some things that have been making me feel Blissful in November:

The gloriously messy sweetness of pomegranates
The vibrantly messy colors of winter sunsets
That early nightfall makes it so easy to snuggle up on my favorite corner of the couch and read a book without feeling like I should be doing something else instead
That even though I'm not a fan of winter, it gives me a reason to wear warm, soft, fuzzy hats and scarves and I AM a fan of those
It's the perfect time of year to make and eat homemade vegetable soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Yum!
Spending time with family
Going on Photo Safaris to look for artful views of everyday things
The sight of such colorful and intricate blooms on such a spindly, homely-looking plant as my Christmas cactus
(my darling) Clementines

"November Bliss" (clickable if you want to see it larger in a new window) What's making you feel blissful this month? In one last digression (well one last one for TODAY, I mean, not one last one EVER, so don't go getting your hopes up), this post completes one full year of Bliss Lists. I started this series in December of 2005 and am trying to decide if I want to continue it into 2007 or if I want to end it here. Will I find new things to make me feel blissful each month if I continue, or would I just be recycling thoughts and images I've posted during this past year? Hhhmmm... I don't know the answer to those questions yet. I guess we'll all find out sometime in the next month or so.

Poetry Thursday - Ugly Things (A Song)

2006-11-30T00:34:00.000-05:00

I like the prompt at Poetry Thursday this week, but it simply hasn't been a week where I could put the time and thought into writing something original for it, so I'll hope to revisit it another time. Meanwhile, I'm going to keep this short today (Hey! You in the back - stop laughing!) and just share a poem that speaks to me. Then I'll get back to my To-Do List that somehow magically seems to keep growing longer despite the fact that I AM doing things on the list and crossing them off! Bah! And also Aaarrggghhh! But I digress. On to the poem. I love the ending. Ugly Things (A Song) In an old worn-out basin I planted violets for you and down by the river with an empty seashell I found you a firefly. In a broken bottle I kept a seashell for you and coiled over that rusty fence the coral snake flowered just for you. Cockroach wing carried to the ant hill: that's how I want them to take me to the cemetery when I die. Garbage dump, garbage dump where nobody wants to look but if the moon comes out your tin cans will shine. If you put a bit of love into ugly things you'll see that your sadness will begin to change color. ~~~Teresita Fernandez (translated by Margaret Randall) DAT: "Changing Color" (clickable if you want to see it larger in a new window) To read more Things Poetical, just look for the links here.

Random Items from the Junk Drawer of my Mind #33

2006-11-29T00:21:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure that post title is quite what it should be, because this one includes a lot of Linky Love, which is kind of like showing you Stuff pulled from Other People's Drawers. (Wow, that just sounded very, very wrong.) My Drawer: Don't forget you have five more days to write a fun little story or two for a chance to win some semi-fabulous prizes! WooHoo!! You even have your choice of two different ways to enter - the HubbaBubba theme of Contest One, or the Have-a-Headache theme of Contest Two. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out This Post. Go ahead, I'll wait. (Lalalalalaaaaaaa) Are you back? Oh good. My Drawer: Y'all! I JUST, as I was typing this post, had my 150,000th blog visitor since I started keeping track of stats! That's so cool! I noticed it was getting close and was keeping an eye on it to see if I could spot when the count tipped over. So to whoever just visited here in the early hours of Wednesday morning (US EST), surfing in from New York state via the SPC site - Hi! Consider yourself showered with virtual confetti and balloons to the sounds of a Cyber Brass Band playing "We Will Rock You." :-) OPD: Do y'all ever visit the Worth 1000 website? I don't go often, but I visit now and then. They post lots of challenges for people to show off their photography and Photoshop skills. A friend sent me a link to one of their recent contests which was called "Pimp My Ren" which was a challenge to "show us today's big bling, hip culture as seen thru the eyes of yesteryear's classic artists." I found the results pretty creative and funny, (if occasionally a bit disturbing). You can check it out Here, if you want to see. OPD: Anyone who spends much time here knows I'm not a TV snob. I freely admit I watch some crappy stuff, but still...Ever wonder just exactly how badly wrong this whole "Reality" TV thing can go? Wonder no more. Just check This out. I'm at a loss for words. You just have to read it for yourself. Go ahead. I'll wait again. (Lalalalalaaaaaaaaaa) Back? Well, what did you think?? I know. I KNOW!! The citizens of Muncie, Indiana, have my condolences. My Drawer: I spent some time in Muncie many years ago. I wonder if they still have that really great used book store. I wonder if the Red Dog Saloon is still there. I wonder if Yorktown Cafe still has mile-high coconut cream pie. And ooooh, there was that fab little Italian restaurant with the wine tasting bar. Hhhmmm... But y'all, I'm not going anywhere near the place to find out. Not anytime soon anyway. My Drawer: Today's Daily Art Thang is a sunset photo I took on my front porch a few days ago. Pretty, yes? We usually have prettier sunsets in the winter here than we do in the summer. "The View from my Front Porch one November Night" (clickable) My Drawer: Come on, everybody, write those stories! Not many entries so far, so your odds are good! If you ever in your life made up an excuse to a parent, teacher, employer, or significant other, you can DO this. :-)

SPC: Glam, Week 4 - Movie Poster

2006-11-28T00:45:00.000-05:00

Here we are at the final week of November's Glam Self-Portrait Challenge. All month I've been taking my inspiration from classic Hollywood glamor shots. For this final week I decided to veer a little sideways from that and turn my final self-portrait into a faux movie poster. I got the idea from the lovely Angela, who used this site to turn one of her self-portraits into a magazine cover. When I saw they also offered a movie poster template I thought that was a perfect way to wind up my homage to Hollywood. This is probably my least-favorite of the photos I've posted for this month, but still...how could I resist ending this series with a shot that features red shoes! "Self-Portrait in a Movie Poster" (clickable if you want to see it larger in a new window, which you really should so you can read the fine print on the poster!) PS...I see that the SPC theme for December is RED! How ironic. Maybe I should post this twice! Edited to add - Because several people have asked about the "film rating" - it's rated R for "Red" and "Ramblings." I'm not that deep, y'all. :-D

Write Something and Win Some Deb aRt (and other possibly-almost-fabulous prizes)!!!

2006-11-27T00:01:00.000-05:00

(Contains minor Quilt Content - GASP!) The past couple of days, I've been working on making a few fabric postcards. The quilters who visit here will know exactly what I mean. Non-quilters may or may not. They're little artsy things you send through the mail just like a regular paper postcard, but they're made of fabric and are layered and stitched just like a teeny-tiny quilt. I've been making one for Deborah B who was nice enough to send me a photo of a poster exhibited at the Quilt Festival in Houston, featuring one of my fabric postcards. Check it out: I don't have to tell you which one is mine, do I? Well, in case I do, it's the shoe card in the lower right. BTW, all the postcards pictured are the same size (4" x 6"), so it looks weird to me to see mine shown larger. But I digress.. I'm also making one for my BFF Morven, who hinted that she'd like to see a DebR postcard show up in her stuff from Santa. And I'm making one that will go to my friend Dragonfly once she completes a challenge I set for her earlier this month when she was having trouble getting going on her NaNoWriMo story. And that brings us to the subject line of this post. While I was making these cards, I decided to make two more and extend the aforementioned challenge to RSR readers and turn it into a little contest. It's been a while since I gave something away here and that's fun to do! Actually I'm turning it into TWO contests. The winners will each receive one of my FlipFlop fabric postcards (similar to the one shown in the poster above, only the shoe will be a different color), plus assorted other Stuff still to be determined because I haven't bought any of it yet. Heh. But I'm going shopping later this week and will put together a couple of little goodie boxes that will contain the postcard, plus other stuff I think is neato-coolio. And even if the winners turn out to not like the same stuff I do...hey, it's Free Stuff and you could always re-gift it. ;-) Contest One For this contest you have to meet the exact same challenge I issued to Dragonfly - write a sex scene. Yes, you read that right - a sex scene, dammit! Ill leave it up to you how explicit to get, but let's not make it anything I'd be embarrassed to share with my more modest friends or family members. I'm not going for porn here, more like romance novel stuff or even light romantic comedy. After all, no one said it had to be a GOOD sex scene. :-) (If someone submits something I think crosses that admittedly ambiguous line, I'll send it back to you and tell you why and give you the option to edit and try again if you like.) But wait - there's more! (C'mon, this IS a challenge, after all.) Each of these sex scenes must somehow include the following four elements: a rubber chicken, a pair of pink fur-lined handcuffs, a bird named Trixie, and a DVD of the Happy Days "Jump the Shark" episode. Entry details to follow after I tell you about the next contest. Contest Two What, you say that the thought of writing a sex scene and posting it on the internet makes you feel very uncomfortable? Yeah, me too. I found out a couple of years ago when I was writing my NaNoWriMo story that, while I like to read a well-written sex scene and I certainly enjoy participating in one (ahem), I do NOT like to write them. My story STILL, two years later, has a big blank space in the manuscript where I think a sex scene should be, and in the middle of that big blank space it just says "add sex scene later." Sigh. So for Contest Two, write a an excuse story for me about why you didn't turn in a sex scene. Think "the dog ate my homework" only more outrageous. The catch? Oh come on, I bet you've guessed. Every excuse story must include the following four elements: a rubber chicken, a pair of pink fur-lined handcuffs, a bird named Trixie, and a DVD of the Happy Days "Jump the Shark" episode. How To Enter Please read carefully! This is not rocket science and I'm kind of anal about people following the directions for this stuff. :-) 1. Let's keep these stories brief - say no more than 250 words or so. (I'm not going to count, so if you go over a little that's fine, but let's use some common sense and not send in the blog equivalent of "Gone with the Wind", y'all!) 2. When you've finished story (or stories), email a copy to me at this address: tansy @ kywirelesscollc.com - delete the spaces on either side of the "@" to make that address functional. Put either "Contest One" for sex scenes or "Contest Two" for excuse stories in the subject line. Within 24 hours after sending your email, you should receive a confirmation email from me that will simply say "got it." If you don't receive that email, contact me using the email addy found in my sidebar. 3. You may only enter each contest once, but you may enter both contests if you like, for a total of two entries. However, you can only win once. If by some bizarre chance the same person would win both, I'll draw a name from the two runners-up and that person will win one of the prizes. (Drawing of names from a hat will also be how I break ties, if any.) If you enter both contests, send each entry in a separate email, using the appropriate subject line for each. 4. Deadline for getting entries to me is one week from today - Monday, Dec. 4th, at 11:59 PM US Eastern Standard Time. (You're each responsible for figuring out how the heck that translates to your local time! I've got enough to do here organizing this thing. Ha!) 5. A couple of days after the contest closes, I will post all entries here without names (I'll assign each story a number) and the winners will be chosen by reader vote. I'll explain the voting thing in more detail when the time comes. 6. Obviously if you win I must be able to contact you, and you must be willing to email me your real name and your snail mail addy, otherwise I can't send you your goodie box, which would kind of defeat the purpose of entering in the first place. 7. Any questions? Contact me at the same addy I listed for entries and give me at least 24 hours to respond. So come on, y'all! Get writing and sending those things in. Don't make me have gone through thinking up this puppy for nothing! ********************* Here's today's DAT - another view of a bloom on my Christmas cactus. I think this version is very O'Keeffe-ish. "Cactus Flower 2" (clickable if you want to see it larger in a new window)

A Friday Thing on Sunday

2006-11-26T00:22:00.000-05:00

Every week I check to see what's posted over a the Friday Five site, even though I don't usually participate. But a couple of weeks ago they had one I thought would make a pretty interesting meme so I saved it and today feels like a good day to share it. So here we go... On The Road Again 1. If you had to move 100 miles or more to the north, east, west, or south, which would you choose, where would you end up, and what's so great about there? Well, I think it would have to be "or more" to get me to move. 100 miles in 'most any direction wouldn't put me anyplace that would have any advantage over where I am now, and moving that far in most directions would put me further away from my family, which I would consider a Bad Thing. I'm not sure how many miles I'd have to travel to move someplace that would seem worth the trouble to me, but the direction would pretty much have to be either south or west. If we ever move again I want to go someplace with less winter, not more! 2. Do you have a favorite stretch of highway or byway for driving, touring, or wandering? I like to drive on the stretch of road known as Paris Pike. It runs between Paris, Kentucky and Lexington, Kentucky, and has been called "one of the most scenic byways in the nation." It's always had very pretty scenery. It's bordered with a lot of horse farms, so there are big old houses set way back from the road, majestic trees scattered across deep lawns, nicely maintained barns and paddocks. There are miles and miles of fences, either rail fences or dry stone, and you can often see Thoroughbred horses in the fields. When I was growing up, it was a rather dangerous stretch of road - two narrow, twisty lanes with no median and little or no shoulders. A few years ago the highway department started renovating it and now it's a four-lane divided road, but it isn't a standard cookie-cutter freeway. The designers worked very carefully to integrate the road into the existing landscape and to maintain as many of the historic features as they could. They maintained most of the existing dry stone fences, had new ones built in some areas, and added a lot of landscaping into the green space between lanes. When it was all finished it turned out to be a road where the scenery is just as beautiful as the one I remember from my childhood, but the road itself is a lot safer and more fun to drive on. It's won several design awards and is often held up as a model for a more modern sort of road design. 3. Are you happier to start a trip or return home? Start. I love the sense of anticipation and adventure - wondering what's ahead. When I come home, I'm always glad to arrive safely, of course, and to get to see my dogs and cat again, but the end of a trip always leaves me feeling a little let down. 4. Plane, train, automobile, bicycle, or foot? Well that depends entirely on how far I need to travel! I love to walk - I go for walks almost every day. When we lived in Wisconsin I used to bicycle a lot, but ended up getting rid of my bike when we moved to Kentucky because the last two areas we've lived in have no safe place to ride. I've never really traveled by train other than just short rides run as tourist attractions, but I've always thought it sounded like it might be a cool way to travel. And I love to fly, although I must admit that crowded planes with small seats, no leg room, and lousy food service are not the optimal way to experience flight. 5. Do you overplan or underplan your travels? (Assume that "no" is not a valid answer.) But...but...but...the answer IS no! I always plan perfectly. (snort!) Ok, ok, if I must choose I have to say I overplan. But only a little bit! If you want to play along, you know the drill - tell me so in comments and you can consider yourself tagged. Here's today's Daily Art Thang: "Cactus Flower" (clickable)

A Review of a Movie, a Bond Movie (no spoilers)

2006-11-25T09:28:00.000-05:00

I hadn't mentioned it before now, what with all the Thanksgiving Stuff going on, but this past Tuesday J and I played hooky from Real Life and went to see the latest Bond movie, Casino Royale. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, especially since I was one of many people who wasn't so thrilled with the idea of BlondeBond when the casting of Daniel Craig in the role was announced. But y'all, he was fabulous! He reminded me of Sean Connery's Bond and I definitely mean that as a compliment. One reason I'm surprised I was so impressed is that, unlike a lot of detractors, I always liked Pierce Brosnan's Bond. Sean Connery was always my favorite, but before now I'd have ranked Mr. Brosnan second in my personal Bond list. I freely admit that's in large part because I'm just a huge fan of that man, and have been since his Remington Steele days. I thought his smooth, urbane humor worked for a certain sort of Bond. He'd be a spy that women would flock to and men wouldn't suspect was tough. Well, if Mr. Brosnan is the smoothest Bond, Mr. Craig is clear on the opposite end of the spectrum. You know I never noticed until I put these photos together just how much Timothy Dalton physically resembles George Lazenby. It may even have been talked about back in the day, but I sort of slept through the Dalton years. Anyway... Daniel Craig is, in fact, so rugged looking that he almost looks odd in a tuxedo, but he pulled it off. And he was utterly believable in the violent action sequences. There's one scene where a baddie is trying none-too-gently to get information from Bond. Those of you who've seen the movie know exactly which scene I mean and those who haven't will recognize what I'm talking about as soon as you see it. When I tried to play that scene in my mind with the lovely Mr. Brosnan in the role, it simply wouldn't work. No one - not even his biggest fan - would have believed Brosnan's Bond would pull off what Craig's Bond went through in that scene. With Craig, I believed it. My only quarrel with the film came in the last 2/3 or so of the movie when things slowed down considerably. Again, I'm betting those of you who've seen it know what I mean, but I won't say so I avoid spoilers. I suspect they were trying to appeal to the female members of the audience, but during that section this female just kept thinking "oh come on, we know what's going to happen here, just get it over with." The film is quite long and I think they could have cut a huge chunk out of the section I'm talking about and brought the movie in closer to 2 hours without missing a thing in terms of telling the story. Other than that one quibble, I thought this was classic Bond, the best in years. If you're a fan of old-school Bond movies - if you're someone who has said for years that Sean Connery is THE Bond and no one else has come close to getting it right - then go see this one. I bet you'll be pleased. I give it an A- and would have given it an A if the director had trimmed some fat from one section of the movie. If you hate all things Bond then, um....never mind. (said in my best Emily Litella voice) Here's today's DAT: "Cactus Bud" (clickable)

Thoughts from the Hide-out

2006-11-24T09:39:00.000-05:00

Here I am, home again after spending a lovely day at my sister's house yesterday. There were eight people, one dog, a lot of good food and drinks, and a lot of talking and laughter. I took my camera with me and thought maybe I'd share a couple of photos today, but once I got there I never gave the camera another thought. Guess what - It turns out that just physically having a camera in the same building with you doesn't result in photos. Really! You actually have to take the thing out of the case and point it at stuff and press some buttons. Sheesh! Who knew!! Today I plan to hide out in my house because I have no desire whatsoever to be on the road with the hoards of mad shoppers determined to find bargains on Black Friday. Which, BTW, I've always thought was a terrible name for a Day After a Holiday Day. I understand where the name comes from - retail going into the black in their accounting books because of so many sales that day - but it makes me think of the Black Plague, or of funerals or something. I find the name very morbid sounding. I've never liked the name Boxing Day either. Again, I get where it comes from, but when I hear it the first thing I always think of is people hitting each other! Bleah! Anyway... I tend to practice major shopping avoidance between Thanksgiving and Christmas every year. The extra traffic and crowds wig me out just a bit and leave me feeling claustrophobic and grumpy. I always try to get some of my gift shopping done before Thanksgiving and will do at least 80% of the rest of it by ordering stuff online and having it delivered to my front door. The UPS man knows my name well. :-) I used to try to get all of it done before Thanksgiving, but found that didn't work out so well for me because the few times I'd be in the stores during that last month between holidays, I'd find things I couldn't resist because they'd be perfect for this person or that one, and I'd end up overspending. So now I do some of my gift buying early, but leave room for those surprise finds toward the end too, when I'm unavoidably fighting my way through the crowds in the coming weeks. For those of you who celebrate Christmas, are you one of those people who has everything bought, organized, and wrapped before December ever arrives, or are you one of the people frantically scurrying around the stores on Christmas eve (or somewhere in between)? Do you do any (or all!) of your shopping online these days or do you have to see and touch what you're buying? Or maybe some of you are ambitious and organized enough to make creative gifts for everyone on your list instead of buying them. (Show offs!) Am I the only one hiding in my house today?? Here's today's Daily Art Thang: "Green Spires" (clickable)

The Giving of the Thanks

2006-11-23T00:12:00.000-05:00

It's after midnight as I'm posting this, so it's now officially Thanksgiving Day in the US. It may not be original to list things you're thankful for on Thanksgiving, but I still like the idea. After all, what's not to like about a holiday that's about being grateful for the blessings in your life and spending time with people you love! If you don't want to see me get all gooshy and sentimental, you might not want to read this. :-) But if you don't mind a little goosh, then read on. This year I want to say I'm thankful... ...for everyone I love and for everyone who loves me back. ...for my sweet dog friends. Dogs are a living example of how to love freely and without fear. The love of a dog for his or her people is one of the closest things to truly unconditional love this side of God. ...for my fat, obnoxious, somewhat psychotic, and extremely irritating cat. Bless his heart, he drives me nuts, but when he curls up in my lap in the evening and purrs his shriveled little heart out, I remember why I love him. Plus, if dogs are on this earth to show us how to love others, then maybe cats are on this earth to show us how to love ourselves. Even if a cat is stupid, unattractive, or annoying as all get out, that cat still KNOWS he or she deserves love and respect. We should know the same. ...that I have my physical necessities, like a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and food on the table. ...and also that I have many of my spiritual and emotional necessities, like books, peaceful surroundings, books, art (doing it myself and looking that the work of others), books, music, books, adventure, books, movies, and books. We may not have a lot of money, but I feel rich. ...that my body is still hanging in there and carrying me around with no more than the usual aches and pains of middle age. ...and that blogging has giving me a creative outlet I didn't know I wanted until I found it, and allowed me to discover so many fabulous people I wouldn't otherwise have known. To those of you in the US who are celebrating Thanksgiving along with me today, I hope you're having a wonderful day and finding much to be thankful for. For those of you outside the US, even though today isn't a holiday for you, I hope exactly the same thing for you. Because after all, we shouldn't really need holidays to be grateful for the good things in life, yes? Yes! Peace... "Thankful" (clickable)

"Thank Your First Commenter Day"

2006-11-22T00:08:00.000-05:00

Neil, over at Citizen of the Month, started a tradition last year called "Thank Your First Commenter Day." It's all tied into giving thanks and showing your appreciation for that first kind soul who made a stumbling newbie blogger feel welcome in Blogsylvania. Neil explains it all very logically with a history lesson about savvy Native Americans, and clueless uptight Pilgrims, and canned cranberry sauce, so you might want to pop over there and read about it because he explains it better than I ever could. Anyway... I didn't participate last year because I'd never heard of Neil at this time last year, so I was ignorant about this important new occasion. But this year I'm in! The very first person to ever leave a comment on Red Shoe Ramblings was the delightful Dara, who I must admit I knew before I started blogging, since we co-own a formerly hoppin' but now sadly neglected email list. She is, in fact, one of the main people who talked me into trying blogging in the first place, so I'm sure that first comment - and many that came after it - were a way of encouraging me to keep at it. Dara is a Buddhist nun with a wicked sense of humor (I know, sounds like a contradiction, doesn't it, but it's true!) who lives and works in Sedona, AZ. Her blog is called Daramusing. It hasn't been updated for a couple of months, but if anyone wants to stop by and say hi and maybe leave a comment, I bet she'd like to hear from you. Dara, thank you for being the first person to give me a little bloggy comment love! I miss your voice, sweetie. Wish you'd write something! :::smooch::: Oh, and if anyone wants to read the first post (don't expect much...SO dull!) and Dara's first comment, you can click here and scroll to the bottom of the page. Sorry I can't link directly to just the one post, but for some reason that's the one and only post I don't have archived individually. I must've monkeyed around with my settings on Day 2! Here's today's Daily Art Thang, a photo I snapped from our front porch a few mornings ago. It looks like the way I usually feel in the morning before I've gotten that first jolt of caffeine in my system. "Morning Fog" (clickable) PS...While I'm thanking my first-ever commenter, I'll also send a shout out to my latest commenter, because I like the idea of honoring the present as well as the past. The last person to leave a comment here just before I hit publish on this new post was the lovely Darlene of A Walk in My Shoes. So glad you stopped by, Darlene. I always love to hear from you! :::smooch::: to you too. :-)

SPC: Glam, Week 3 - the Boudoir Portrait

2006-11-21T00:58:00.000-05:00

It's week 3 of November's Glam Self-Portrait Challenge. I have to say I'm enjoying this one. People are being very creative! Plus I love the fantasy element of these photos. The ones I've been doing are like a grown-up version of playing dress-up and pretending to be a princess. :-) As I continue to take my inspiration from classic Hollywood glamor shots, this week I focused on a type of publicity photo that has been around as long as there have been movies and people who wanted to be stars - the boudoir photo. Not that any of those photos were actually taken in anyone's bedroom or dressing room, of course. They were carefully staged studio portraits, but that was the feeling they were meant to evoke - the sense that you'd caught a glimpse of the glamorous movie star in an intimate moment. The studios wanted you to want their stars. They wanted you to fantasize about them and want to be them. I had trouble narrowing my choices in this series down to just one photo, so I'm posting my two favorites. The first one was based on photos like these examples featuring Veronica Lake and Clara Bow: The examples I'm sharing are all B/W, but I decided to do mine in color. Here's my version: "Self-Portrait - Boudoir Portrait" I didn't quite end up with the same angle to the head, but it still has a similar feel I think, especially to the Clara Bow photo. The second pose is based on photos like these pics of Lana Turner and Barbara Stanwyck: And here's my take on it (a bit more Lana than Barbara): "Self-Portrait - Boudoir Portrait: Take 2" (both photos are clickable if you want to see them larger in a new window) Only one more week to go! Wonder what the theme will be next month...

The Balance Thing

2006-11-20T00:24:00.000-05:00

One day last week I was visiting Suzie's blog and she'd posted the results of a test she'd taken that was supposed to give some insight into the state of a person's chakras. Ok, if I may take off on an immediate tangent here, I have to confess that a part of me wanted to cringe a teensy bit just then, when I typed "the state of a person's chakras." I was raised with a very conservative and traditional-for-this-region religious background, including many years of parochial school, and it's left me with the remnant of a Baptist preacher's voice living in my head. ACK! My current spiritual beliefs are miles away from the beliefs of the church in which I was raised, and that Inner Preacher is not my favorite part of my personality, to say the least. I've worked for YEARS to shove him out of there, but there he is, still hanging around and sneering at me at the oddest moments. Pardon me for a moment, while I stuff a sock in his mouth. NOW, as I was saying.... I read about this test on Suzie's blog and went to take it and found it interesting. Here's what it said: And here's a link to brief explanations of the results - too brief, in my opinion and I'm not sure I agree with all of it, but I agree to an extent. For instance, take a look at the two chakras it says are out of balance with me - under-active Root and over-active Third Eye. It says that someone with an under-active Root chakra will "tend to be fearful or nervous" and would "easily feel unwelcome." I don't think I'm particularly fearful or nervous at all, but I tend to agree about the part about easily feeling unwelcome. I know that's a big part of why I'm almost phobic about making phone calls is because I'm always 99% certain (with no logical reason for that certainty whatsoever!) that whoever I'm calling will consider it an annoying intrusion rather than being happy to hear from me. It goes on to say that when someone has an over-active Third Eye chakra they "may live in a world of fantasy too much. In excessive cases hallucinations are possible." Again, I'll go along with half of that. I DO tend to live inside my head too much and that's a fantasy world if there ever was one. (snort!) But hallucinations? Um...not so much. I also wish they gave a little more information about balancing those chakras that are out of whack, but on the other hand I'm sure that information is out there in other places. I can see enough truth in these test results that I think it may be worth checking out a book and reading more. Maybe this one that I've been hearing about on a few blogs. Balance is a Good Thing, yes? Then this past weekend I saw that Melba had taken the same test and posted her results and she's also added a word exercise. I'd fully intended to do that one too, but this has already gotten SO long that I think I'm going to save that for another day. (Sheesh, am I completely incapable of writing a short blog post???? It would appear so!) Anyway, on to the Daily Art Thang, which is a self-portrait today. It seems sort of silly to post a self-portrait on a Monday when I'm going to do a Glam SPC post tomorrow, but I took this photo a couple of weeks ago after buying a new hat and I liked how it turned out. Now I'm thinking about using it as a new blog profile pic because I'm already sick of looking at the one I've been using the past couple of months. Heh. So here it is, an UnGlam self-portrait, with no make-up except some lipstick, but a cute hat! :-) "Self-Portrait in a Hat" (clickable) PS...If the perspective looks a little odd, it's because I was lying down on the back deck railing when I took the photo. Sometimes I get the balance thing right. :-)