?!

So many things..so I'll start with the first.

nobody@vox.com(Spike) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:27:35 -0500

Pooky has had (and likely still has) the flu. He's been back to work for the past few days, but I'm not keeping my breath held for any government mandated sick-leave with pay..or even sick leave without pay. Maybe in my lifetime..?? Meanwhile, I have lots of work to catch up on here before the holidays and having guests again. The chateau has a real workshop look to it right now with all the various projects well-begun (half-done).

I am taking a serious look at the online publishing/consulting again now that it "seems" I may have some consistent free time on consistent days. I really would like to eventually have a second part-time occupation..but for the immediate right-now it is still yet another well-begun dream.

After having gone almost a fortnight without touching a camera, the dry-spell finally has ended. For fifteen years of service, the Bell sent me an awards catalogue and I chose a Canon Powershot A480 camera. Don't worry, my Rebel XSi "Rosie" is perfectly okay, but there are times and places where a girl needs a more discreet tool for the job, such as in restaurants, at shows, or in the sorts of turbulent crowds in which a compact camera is more sensible. It arrived Thursday and I must say I am quite impressed with what it can do. It has twice the pixels of my old P&S, ISO spanning from 80 to 1600 (my old one stopped at 350), near a dozen presets for various shooting situations, a P-mode that gives the user full control of every camera function except aperture and shutter priority (the one advantage my old P&S had), and a good high-quality movie recorder with sound (unlike the old P&S, which only made silent films). Also, this one uses the same SD card my Rebel does..which is good.

All the photos in this post were made with "Posy"...which is what I named Rosie's new little counterpart.

It's just past the peak of autumn colours here, but of all the trees in town, there are a few that just "pop" longer and brighter than any others. There's a cospe of trees beside the McDonalds on MLK street that are, for me, the local ambassadors of the season

Mcdonaldstree

I've mentioned the lady I work with and her family, who have all become good friends with Pooky and me. Her son Carlito, who is Pooky's newest gaming buddy, has been checking in on Pooky every day while Pooky had the flu Wednesday night the family dropped by for a visit and young Carlito brought me a single rose "just because". It still looks quite fresh this morning, though I need a prettier vase than the Paul Masson one I am using.

Carlitorose

This morning, before I start my housework or yardwork or any of the other tasks that need to be done, I decided to make crepes-for-one. It's not that Pooky does not eat them, or that I only have fancy french breakfasts when he's not here, but I wanted to do a "dry run" to see if I could make a small batch using a standard stainless skillet rather than a fancy crepe pan or nonstick saute pan. The instructions I used come from Chef Todd Mohr, who has around 20 free Cooking Course videos on YouTube as well as a website and blog and his subscription-based Web Cooking Classes. Pooky and I are taking his classes now, though flu has cut deep into our time and desire to practice our cooking skills. Tomorrow, however, I am gonna show out and use the half-scale version of Mohr's crepe recipe that I used today. The secret to doing this with a regular non-nonstick pan is to lightly spray the pan with cooking spray AFTEr the skillet has become hot. DO NOT do this while the skillet is sitting on the stove, especially if you cook with gas). Ladle a single one-ounce spoonful of batter into the middle of the skillet and then tilt and swirl the skillet around so the batter can run and spread to the desired thinness and roundness. It's all in the wrist and practice makes perfect.

I stuffed a few with fresh strawberries (marked WAY down at Kroger this week) and whipped fresh creme. I did a few others "Suzette" (the lazy way) with sprinkled sugar and a dash of lemon juice right onto the fresh-cooked crepe. I am also proud to report that my premiere crepe was indeed not pour le chien.

Crepes

. And that is how I started my day. Now to finish a few things up.

Until then, y'all keep youselves safe, well and happy. *hug*

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I WILL be back I promise

nobody@vox.com(Spike) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:16:09 -0500

It may be a while yet though. Pooky has had the flu for more than a week now. He's missed a lot of work as well as Halloween. I've been busy filling in at work for him (one of the FEW advantages to my so-called position) and have not had much time for the sort of exciting fast-paced living that you the esteemed reader have become accustomed to.

There WILL be pictures of autumn..and there WILL be new recipes, funny videos, Hugo quotes and ubiquitous orcs...soon. Just give my household a bit more time to recover.

Until then, I hope you all are safe and well and happy. *hugs*

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Apologies and stuff

nobody@vox.com(Spike) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:43:42 -0400

Sometimes I kind of forget about checking in here to see what (if anything) is going on in my Coms or what my friends here are up to. It's been a busy week between work, Pooky-with-the-flu and a fair bit of playing-tag with our contractor, but we've got some things done, put a few projects to rest, and we are both looking forward to a nice relaxing next-month.

First...no more estate sales..which is a real relief to me. We decided to let the liquidators handle what is left so we can get down to the business of selling the house.

Second, got a LOT of repairs done around here, including hanging a new pair of French doors and correcting several small electrical issues here. Now just to sort out the HVAC and plumbing ..and the floors...and the driveway...and the ... ahhhh HERE IT GOES!

Third, I think I have become a second-time godmother. One of the ladies I work with and her family have both become close to me and mine..and her son (who I'll call Little Juanito) is Pooky's new best buddy. Juanito's father works nights and I suppose his folks see Pooky as a good alternate male influence ..*shrugs*...so Pooky and Juanito have taken to reading and collecting comics and those little clicky comic game characters.

Fourth, I turned up an old friend from highschool on Facebook. This sort of thing makes me glad..even if I still can't quite get used to how people change over the years. I have to remind myself often, lest I accidentally "out" her as the teenager she used to be now that she has two kids of her own and is a fine upstanding member of the community.

Fifth, Pooky has the flu...boo-hoo-hoo

Sixth, my friend's-li'l-brother Mikey and his football team made it all the way to the championship game, in which they placed second. Congrats to them on a great season. "Next year could be the year."

Seventh, the Quasi-quest contiunes. I found a community on YouTube with dozens of uploads of every version of HoND ever made...and learned there's yet another in the works...a "remake" of the Lon Chaney version...with ..(are you ready fo rthis), Johnny Depp. ... Umm....okay?

Eighth, I promise eventually a camera-outing. I would have last week, but job happened. The leaves are gorgeous here...especially the "McDonalds tree" down on MLK street. Pics soon, I pinky-swear.

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Quasipalooza.... the WTF Files

nobody@vox.com(Spike) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:18:01 -0400

Okay...so we've all had this happen. You're hanging out with your friend at the pub, you have a mandolin and he has a banjo. You have a copy of Hunchback, a real thing for good eighties rock-and-roll, and WAY too much time on your hands.

Okay..so maybe not. But show me one real Hunchback fan that can't listen to The Cult sing She Sells Sanctuary and not think of Quasi.

Seriously, these two blokes must've been REALLY deep into their cups.

Doctor Brü - 'Sanctuary' - The QUASIMODO epic re-mix !

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Quasipalooza - this time in Russian

nobody@vox.com(Spike) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:44:31 -0400

Sweet sugary Jeebus I'm sooo sorry about the last video I posted that I felt I had to make it up to you.

Here is "Belle" from Notre Dame De Paris...in Russian. Even if you don't speak Russian nor care a damn for Hunchback, it's a danm well-produced piece.

Notre Dame de Paris (Rus) - Belle

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In which Spike rants about "Climate Change"

nobody@vox.com(Spike) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:26:32 -0400

It seems yesterday was Blgggers take action day ... ?? ....and we as a blogging community were meant to post all about climate change .... ?

Well, I'm all for it. It's what Mother Earth likes to do. Let her do her thing, dammit! It's not like this is something new. The Earth has been through numerous climate changes (not counting ice ages) that have been just as drastic as what we are experiencing now and gotten on just fine. One particular example is in the 17th century during the 30 Years War, there came a summer so cold that it snowed in Berlin in June, crops failed, and amidst the ravages of war, Europe experienced massed starvation...so much so that there is even recorded instances of people eating the dead from the gibbets.

So..... people...shut your bitching about how friggin' hot/cold/rainy it is. It's not THAT bad.

Besides, who are WE as a community of armchair activists to think that we can blog this "problem" away or even really make it better. Mother Nature is a badass, ans not one to be negotiated with. Meanwhile, do as the Boy Scout book says. Leave the land better than you found it...and pack extra socks.

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Quasipalooza --- somebody please just shoot me

nobody@vox.com(Spike) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:22:17 -0400

This one turned up in my questing for more of the previously mentioned stage musical Notre Dame de Paris.

...... *sigh*

Vox Lumiere - The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Trailer

"Why was I not made of stone.."

No..seriously...why? Then I would not have been unlucky enough to stumble upon (or should I say step into) this one on YouTube.q

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Oktoberfest - low-country style!

nobody@vox.com(Spike) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:59:45 -0400

It is kind of a tradition among our friends to get together sometime in October and put on a huge feast of beer, sausages, pretzels, potato salad and whatnot.

This year, however, Pooky decided to take advantage of the special on shriimp and polish sausage at Kroger, so we're having a low-country boil today. He's got five pounds of shrimp, three dozen potatoes, two dozen onions, five links of sausage, and sixteen half-ears of corn ready to boil. There are four three-gallon stock pots on the stove coming to a boil. There is a brocolli salad chilling in the fridge, a pan of brownies and a pan of lemon bars ready for dessert, and a mini-fridge chock fulla sodas, green tea and kosher wine.

I'm all excited. This is the biggest party we've had in about twelve years or so. I just hope the weather holds out for the evening so we won't all be cooped up inside. So far, so good.

_______

In non-cookout-related news, I (being the rube I am) keep discovering neat features about my laptop. Today I found out that if my battery runs out while I'm working in Photoshop, Windows "hibernates" and gives me a chance to find an AC source without losing my work. I also found out that my laptop has a far superior sound card to my old klunker and works great with my old PC speakers..unlike the afore-mentioned klunker.

Now I just need the klunker to sprout legs and betake itself to Pooky's studio where all good dinosaurs go to be with their own kind. I need the desk space.

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PhotoQuest Challenge "Fall"

nobody@vox.com(Spike) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:23:18 -0400

There's not much going on here yet in the way of leaves turning or other evidence of climate change. In Georgia, that usually happens in November.

But for a lot of folks here, Fall is short for Football.

I got to take a bunch of pictures of my fried Dan's little brother's team, the Cartersville Middle School Hurricanes, this past thursday as they wrapped up the regular season.

Here they are (on the right), in the final quarter, facing off against South Central Chieftains

Canes1

I was not thrilled with the brightness or saturation, so I adjusted both in Photoshop. I also used the Curves window to bring the green up just a tad.

Canes2

I was pretty happy with this one, but then decided to be a bit creative.I used the Color Select function fo isolate just the purple, inverted the selected area, and then desaturated the rest of the image. Since the Cartersville 'Canes call themselves the Big Purple, this seemed appropriate.

Canes3

My friend's brother Mikey is the second from the front on the 'Canes' line.

They won the game by two touchdowns and will be going to the playoffs next Saturday.

In non-Quest news, Mikey's mom is sending the whole load of pics I took to the team coach, the cheerleader squad coach (since I got a few of the cheer squad too) and to the school newspaper. Sooo...I may have just become a sport-photographer! :D

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"late-bloomers"

nobody@vox.com(Spike) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:04:14 -0400

Slightly out of season but NEVER out of style, a monarch butterfly buttering my lantana.

Mariposa

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