Magic Flute (Queen of Night Aria)

Thanks to my opera magazine I discovered the amazing Diana Damrau. Can you believe that I, too, once sang this aria? My voice was really a bit too young at the time, but my voice teacher and I did it for fun. After all, there aren't that many of us that can sing F above High C!

Academy Awards

Tonight is Oscar Night. It's the night when people watch who's wearing what and what movies and their people will be honored. Lots of regular folks have parties to celebrate and watch...or at least watch. I'm not one of those people. Oh, I think award shows are all well and good, I just tend not to watch. Mainly because I have no clue as to the nominees. I have not seen one movie nominated for an award. I just don't go to the cinema. I'll catch it when it comes on TV...maybe. Perhaps I'll buy the DVD if it looks really good. I have seen some trailers of the upcoming films. I'd like to see The King's Speech win a lot. It looks like an excellent film and I love Geoffrey Rush. Black Swan looks interesting. I have no idea what else is out there. What about you? Do you celebrate Oscar night? Or do you not even care?

Conspiracy

After work I was hoping to catch up on the latest episode of Top Chef All Stars, but the Lookback feature, touted by my expensive cable company, still wasn't working. So I called. Yes, you can get tech support after midnight. I spent a great deal of time on the phone with a nice guy from Albany-but he can't figure it out either. I can use the On Demand feature as well as start over on Bravo (the network that airs Top Chef) and the LookBack is working on NBC and USA. These are all tied together. There is no reason the Lookback shouldn't work for Bravo...but it's not. I think it's a conspiracy.

No Power!

I woke up this morning to discover that I had no power! No phones, no computer, no TV, no oven. But why? There was no storm and it's not even windy! Fortunately, I got power back relatively quickly. Once I did I looked online to find the cause:

There is a major outage affecting 46,000 to 50,000 customers. RG&E says static lines, which sit above a high voltage lines, fell and crossed the high voltage lines creating a short to the system. When this happens, a signal was sent back to the RG&E substation, which automatically shuts the power down.

Chain Maille

When I was in Texas one of my coworkers made chain maille. I don't recall what he did with it, but I remember him sitting with a bag full of small silver jump rings, putting them together with his pliers. Imagine my surprise when I went into AC Moore the other week and saw colored jump rings, to make chain maille jewelery. It was on sale, so I picked up a little instruction book and 2 packs of multicolored chain maiile, to give it a try. I'm hooked. The only problem is that the jump rings from AC Moore aren't anodized, meaning I can see silver in the space where they link together. I may consider trying to find better quality rings. I intend to make some stuff to sell at the craft show I'm doing, in addition to my cards. We'll see what happens.

Why?

Why is it that when you're cleaning...and I mean really cleaning and organizing and sorting out...it always looks much worse when you stop for a while. I've been working on my bedroom all day. If someone, especially someone who didn't know me, were to look at it, he'd say, "Oh my God! What happened here? Did a tornado come through? You really need to take some time and get this straightened out". Grrrr. Well, I'm stopping now. I'm going to quench my thirst with some iced tea, then pour a large glass of wine and watch The Parent Trap (the original, thank you very much) while I make a bracelet for the Sip 'n' Swap I'm doing to benefit the Finger Lakes Thoroughbred Adoption Program.

Where?

I don't know where the times goes! I got up early and headed straight to the barn. Harley and I had a fun ride-working a trot/canter course. His ears were perked and he was eager to go. I ran a few errands enjoying brief conversations with strangers in 2 of my 3 stops. Then back home to eat and catch up on the computer. I called my folks, sharing a funny Buffalo story-which they truly enjoyed. I put a load of laundry in and got caught up on Grey's Anatomy. Now it's an hour until the finale of Worst Cooks in America. But I haven't cleaned cages or litter boxes yet...or any other cleaning, for that matter. Or crafts. And the day is almost over. Oh well, hopefully tomorrow I can catch up...at least a bit!

Freezing

You know that picture I posted yesterday, showing how the snow had all but melted away. Well...it's back! I stayed late at work last night and imagine my surprise to see it snowing when I left. My car even had some snow stuck to it and the snow was sticking to the ground. The roads were fine, but it continued to snow. The closer I got to home, the worse it got. I almost missed my exit-which was completely snow covered. Once I was off the exit the roads were partially snow covered and the snow was really coming down. Again, the closer I got home, the worse it was. Suddenly I really had to slow-the snow was coming right at me so that I could barely see! Fortunately, I was about 2 minutes away at this point, but jeez! Fortunately, the roads, though snow covered at times, were OK, and there wasn't anybody else on the road at 3:20 AM. Still, driving in near white out conditions is not fun!

Photo Phriday - Melting

Stupid Cable

I pay a great deal of money for cable, basic digital cable at that. They've been advertising nonstop about their look back feature. If you miss a show, you can press a few buttons and watch it anytime within 3 days. There's also Prime Time on Demand-where you have longer to watch shows. Now that I work Evening Shift, I'm dependent on these features to watch my programs (Digital Cable has screwed up taping my shows, for the most past.) Anyway, I had a problem with On Demand. A technician came out, gave me a new cable box, regrounded some wires and did stuff outside and all was fine. I came home from work last night all excited to watch Top Chef All Stars. It was actually on when I came home, but for some reason the "start over" feature wouldn't pop up. I didn't want to watch just part of the show, so I ignored it and tried to use the "Look Back" feature. It says it was accessing and my program "would begin shortly". HA! I waited and waited-nothing. Then it said the program was "currently unavailable. Try again later." This morning I tried again. No go. I accidentally hit the restart button for another show-that didn't work either. I'm mad. They promote this feature endlessly, I pay a fortune, and it doesn't work! I'll be calling tomorrow to complain!

Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now

I got my glasses fixed. :)

Blurry

Yesterday the left lens popped out of my glasses. I popped it back in. Today it fell out again-and I can see an issue with the screw holding the frame together. I'm wearing my old glasses now, and I know there's an eye glass repair kit at work-so hopefully I can fix my new glasses once I get there. I have a feeling I need to go to the store to get them properly adjusted tomorrow morning though. In the meantime, everything is blurry in my old glasses without bifocals. Ugh.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you had a sweet day. It was a day off work for me-so that's always sweet. I started with a visit to my doctor, just a check up and a stop at Michael's, a craft store. This evening I rode my horse. Now I'm cooking a nice meal-wild rice, beef Wellington, and champagne. I think I'll have ice cream for dessert. Not a bad day and I even got some Valentine kisses...even though they were furry. Happy Valentine's Day!

Bob Dylan - You Gotta Serve Somebody

In honor of the Grammy's. Bob Dylan won Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male in 1979 for this song. This video is his performance of the song for the 1980 Grammy's.

Still Asleep

Why is it that sometimes when you wake up, certain body parts are still asleep. I tried hitting the snooze button, but could barely move my arm and couldn't feel my hand at all!

Photo Phriday - Zywiec Hiding

Another Interesting Dream

I swear, sometimes I have the most interesting dreams. They're better than TV! This one was very complex with different parts. It included a haunted room in a college where there were 1 female and 2 male ghosts. The female had drowned, something to do with the bathtub-and she could still turn on the taps. She also could talk-not EVPs, but actually audible to me. "So you think you're going to have a good time tonight?" Chilling, huh? After some spooky stuff and figuring out how to stop her-give her the gifts still kept for her in the lobby of the hotel/college I went to some other building-and into my dream came Duff Goldman. Yes, Duff from Ace of Cakes. Geoff was there too. I was keeping a female waiting and she decided to go home alone-but that was where the ghost was (I guess I hadn't quieted her down). So Duff, Geoff, and I decided to go with her. She had gone on without waiting for us, so we followed. When we got there it was spooky and all the furniture had been pushed to one side of the room. And that was it. Interesting, huh?

Back to Work

Today I have to return to work, vacation is over. I've been a slug this past week and have barely accomplished anything. I dealt with getting my iPad sorted out, Dylan's illness and subsequent passing, a visit to a 4th state doctor, and snow. I did spend some time at the barn, I created several cards (I have more to do), arranged another trip for Cabot Ratkins, and got some things I should have posted, posted! I talked with some friends, saw the family and relaxed. All in all, I guess it was a pretty good vacation-if only it could last longer!

Dylan

 I remember when I went to pick up Dylan and his brothers, Aquinas, and Harrison. He did not want to be picked up and ran and ran and ran around his cage. When he was finally brought out, Debbie laughed and said, "This one will give you problems". Although he was a sweet baby, he was overshadowed a bit by both of his brothers-who are extraordinarily outgoing. But he was a wonderful rat. Everything was going well. In fact, he was the only one who did not try to dominate his nephews and their cagemates when I began introductions. He stayed out of all the fighting. Then, a week ago, I noticed that something was wrong. He wasn't walking properly and seemed more quiet that usual. I thought he had had a stroke. The next day we went to the vet and I noticed a weight loss. I don't know how I missed seeing that! But he was eating and eating well, enjoying his treats. We started him on medications and he seemed to perk up. Then he started going downhill. We upped his meds-but he was getting worse. Suddenly he appeared to have difficulty eating. It looked as though he couldn't support his own body. Both of his brothers looked after him, grooming him and taking turns sleeping by him. This morning when I went in I knew that he wouldn't last the day. I held him for a bit, then put him back with his brothers. When I looked in on them again I found both Aquinas and Harrison sleeping with him in their teepee. Dylan was still alive, but I knew he was nearing the end. I left him with his brothers. The next time I went in I saw that Aquinas was on the 3rd level of the cage and Harrison was in the igloo-I knew then that Dylan was gone. Dylan crossed the rainbow bridge early this evening with his brothers by his side. We will all miss him. He died way too young.

Dylan
9/10/09 - 2/7/11

Book Signing

I enjoy going to book signings. I've been lucky to meet several authors through the years and it's still a joy to get an autographed copy of their books! Today I went to a book signing by Lorraine Bartlett for the first book in her new series, A Crafty Killing. I love her booktown series ( Murder is Binding is the first) which she writes under the name Lorna Barrett. She also writes the Jeff Resnick series under the name LL Bartlett-the first is Murder on the Mind. I've enjoyed them all and I'm sure I'll like this new series as well. If you're in the market for a good mystery-be sure to check her out-whatever name she uses!

Photo Phriday - Dylan Gets Some Stew

Blizzard...or Not

I was prepared. Today was supposed to be "Snowmageddon". Although my pantry was pretty well stocked, I picked up a few more things...just in case. I charged up all my electronics. I'm on vacation-so didn't have to worry about leaving the house. I was ready! I went to bed early last night and saw that it had started to snow. "Ah ha-just as predicted". I went to bed. I didn't think it was going to be that major of a storm, after all it was only supposed to be 1 day and I lived through the Buffalo Blizzard of '77! Still imagine my surprise when I woke up. It was early-about 7:30 AM. I looked out the window and saw...nothing. Roads were clear and it wasn't snowing. Humph. I gave Seneca her pill and went back to bed. When I got up a few hours later...still nothing. Eventually it began to snow. And about 4:30PM the roads became snow covered. So I stayed in. But still, this was just a regular winter day in WNY. What was all the fuss?

Dean Martin - Let it Snow!

They're calling for a major snow storm almost all over the US. I'm on vacation and my pantry is stocked. Let it snow!