For Two of You

Are any of my dear readers willing to weigh in on which two or three Met Opera Live in HD performances I should try to see this season? I've enjoyed the two encores I've seen. 

I know C and L will have opinions. Are there any other opera lovers lurking here?

Really?

How could anyone rate a Lyle Lovett album at one star, or even two for that matter? Sometimes I read an unfavorable review and wonder if I'm not discriminating enough. Not this time.

Where Have You Been All My Life?

I asked that question when I watched Lyle Lovett perform on The Tonight Show on March 7, 1996.

Now I'm asking the same question of mashed sweet potatoes. I only discovered sweet potatoes in general after 30+ years without them. I mashed some a few months ago and thought they were good, but not necessarily memorable.

Then, I made them again this week. Sweet potato + salt + butter + cream + the magic of a handheld KitchenAid = heaven on a fork.

I just boiled and mashed a big serving to take to work tomorrow. I gladly ate what little bit wouldn't fit in the freezer container, and had to exercise all my inconsiderable will to not eat the remainder. After that, the only thing that would satisfy was some homemade chocolate syrup from the fridge.

Speaking of which, those are two good things. Chocolate. Sweet potatoes. Wonder what they're like together.

Looking Forward, or, An Ohio Evening

I just made plans with my dear friend eb to go to Ohio over Labor Day. She's offered many invitations over the years, but in the past I've demurred with excuses of work, penury, or school. Those excuses still exist (work and school are now combined, since I work at a school), but I'm going to say "What the heck" and do it anyway. I'm feeling happy about having another fun trip to look forward to. Also, buying a ticket to Ohio will put me even closer to another Southwest award ticket, which I promise will be used to go to Texas.

The trip agenda includes eb's high school reunion, which should be infinitely less painful than my own reunion, which is also this summer (Mom, are you certain you already threw away my invite?). Two of eb's siblings are getting married (not to each other, of course!) in August and will have an open house in Ohio that weekend, we'll drive through Amish Country, and visit some of the Ohio LDS historical sites like the John Johnson home. Maybe I can even wrangle a meet-up with the original sources of my aunthood and their younger sister, who are just a hop, skip, and a jump from Ohio.

(Soundtrack for this post is my latest download, "Look at Miss Ohio," on Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains (Music from the Motion Picture), performed by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, with additional vocals by Gaida Hinnaw).

Randomness

Random Item #1: I was hungry this morning and feeling too lazy to get a bowl of Cheerios (yes, please don't comment on that part), and in casting about my desk drawer looking for some nuts (didn't have any), I came across a box of Barnum's Animals Crackers I had completely forgotten. Isn't that exciting?

Random Item #2: You know how people talk about muscle memory? Well, there's also such a thing as audio memory. Example: In college, I had a homemade cassette copy of Simon & Garfunkel's Collected Works*. The first side cut off in the middle of the last chord of "Richard Cory." Yes, a bit disturbing until you got used to it. But now, nearly 20 years later, every time I listen to that song on my mp3 player (which is quite often, because I'm a real creature of habit), I expect the song to end the same way. That's audio memory.



*A1 - For years I've felt a bit guilty because we split the cost of that CD set, but I ended up with the CD's and you ended up with cassette copies, which I'm sure you don't have use for any more. Are we ok, or do I need to make it up to you somehow? BTW, I love Old Friends, which is what I listen to all the time now. Thanks. Again!

Recommendation

Feeling stressed out? Need some soothing background music to play while you try to dig out from under the paper pile in your office? Want a break from "Sleigh Ride" and "Silver Bells"?

This original music is guaranteed to solve these problems and more. Let the creator know what you think!

Favorites

I'm not fond of having to pick favorites, but I'm listening to The Very Best of the Eagles and I thought I would share a few favorites to which I'm willing to commit.

Favorite Eagles song: New Kid in Town
Favorite Beatles song: A Day in the Life
Favorite Carpenters song: Superstar
Favorite Dessert: cake

ps - How could anyone not love the Eagles? Their music, that is.

pps - Don't you love Wikipedia? Who knew that the Carpenters' "Superstar" was a remake?

Accepting Applications

I need a guest blogger. Or I need to start running reruns. Not sure anyone is interested in reruns of my blog posts, however. Anyone interested in guest blogging?

Actually, I made small steps toward a new post last night by downloading and cropping some photos I plan to show you. Alas, they're on the laptop, I'm working on the desktop, and a) transferring photos from laptop to desktop, or b) turning on laptop to connect to wi-fi, will have to wait, since work and sleep take precedence.

In the meantime, here's what's happening in my non-work life, which seems to encompass only about 10 hours of the day right now, including drive and sleep time.

Took delivery of Lyle Lovett and the Eagles. Too busy and stressed to pay proper attention to Lyle, but I'm enjoying the Eagles.

About to start listening to Jasper Fforde's First Among Sequels (when I can pay proper attention, that is).

News of my own auntie and mother knitting together in Utah spurred me on to pull out Baby Jack's stocking. I didn't get very far before I was ready to turn the heel, and I had to put it aside, again for lack of concentration power. So I've been knitting swatches instead, a few rows a night, just to knit something. Poor Baby Jack--I started his stocking before he was born, Christmas came and went, and he's about to turn a year old, still with no Christmas stocking. We won't talk about the fact that aforementioned auntie started and finished a stocking for Jack's soon-to-be-delivered cousin in the space of a few days.

Today, my parents marked their fortieth wedding anniversary. Thanks for being my parents!



ps - A1, are you still reading? There was a plant in a post for you a while ago, but you didn't bite.

pps - Isn't that rude of me to include a secret message in a public post? If you're dying to know who A1 is and what the plant was, e-mail me.

Taking Pleasure in Small Things

It's Saturday and I'm at work. But I'm going to happy about what I can:

Saw this morning that ULTA is coming to Murfreesboro! And I already knew about Barnes and Noble going into the same shopping center. How lucky that I just told ULTA to change my mailing address, even though I thought I had no current use for their coupons.

I may be at work, but I'm also tapping my toes to Sheryl Crow Radio on Pandora.com, radio from the Music Genome Project (thanks, Amy!). Check it out for yourself--you can build your own radio station starting with an artist or song you like, and Pandora will play music with similar characteristics. Here are the stations I loaded yesterday. Can you fill in the blanks?

Sheryl Crow Radio
G _ _ _ _ _ _ W_ _ _ _ Radio
C _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Radio
L _ _ _ L _ _ _ _ _ Radio

Status Report

Current Location: office
Chapters read in Deathly Hallows: 25
Remaining visits with fitness coach: 1(!)
Listening to: Simon & Garfunkel Old Friends Disc 1 (thanks A1!)
Just finished eating: jumbo hot dog (impulse purchase at Women in Computer Science bakesale)
Pounds lost during wellness program: -3
Ounces of Diet Coke consumed so far today: 30
Working on: identifying possible competitors for a proposed book project. Gotta love WorldCat.
Temperature outside: 99 degrees F
Temperature in office: 73 degrees F
Table fan speed: Medium
Looking forward to: December

Auntie K is Smiling

She's smiling wide. She just placed a pre-order for It's Not Big It's Large, Lyle Lovett's new studio album. To take advantage of free shipping, she threw in The Very Best of the Eagles. Yeah, I know, I only save $4 on free shipping and the second cd is more than $4, but don't rain on my parade, ok?

I just get all tingly and happy thinking about a new Lyle Lovett cd. And by September 4, when it's slated to arrive, I'll probably be needing all the tingly and happy I can get.

Now only if Lyle would play in Nashville soon...

Red Letter Day

As I drove to work this afternoon (it's Monday, remember?) singing along to The Very Best of Sheryl Crow, I realized today is remarkable:

• Not once in the past month did I say to myself, "I don't want to go to work today."

• Today, for the first time since Sept 2005, I received a pay check, either biweekly or monthly, for more than $1,000.

Snow Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all of Auntie K's readers. At her place at the breakfast table this morning, Auntie K found a Hello Kitty candy necklace kit, Vanilla Creme Marshmallow Peeps Hearts, and a box of Harry London chocolates. There is one Buckeye in the box that she is saving for last.

It snowed and blew last evening, and blew even harder all night, and today, school was cancelled (much to the neices' chagrin). So, the whole family had a leisurely breakfast featuring red and purple pancakes (pictures to follow--Auntie K didn't bring her card reader). The girls played outside for a bit after breakfast, and Niece #1 was brave enough to put her face into the snow to see what if feels like.

This afternoon, Auntie K and her brother downtown visit a behemoth used book store in a four-story factory building. The store puts even the mothership Half Price Books to shame. It was quite cold, however, as they have turned off the heat in the building as a measure of economy. The only warm places in the building are the "warming stations" on floors one, two, and four.

In between activities, you can see that Auntie K is trying to improve her blogging habits, and she has also knitted a bit and copied some music (Lenny Kravitz' Greatest Hits and The Beatles' Anthology 1) onto her MP3 player.