I Am Thankful For:

Vintage Postcard

Family
Friends
Good Health
Freedom
My Home
Food
My Job
Books
Computers
Cell Phones

Vintage Postcard

Blogger
Microwave Ovens
Music

Peace where it exists
Security
Flowers
Clouds
Arts and Crafts
Quilting

Vintage Postcard

I have a lot for which to be thankful!

Harry Potter-Deathly Hallows

Went to see Part I at the IMAX today.  When I left the theater, I thought that I should have watched "Harry and the Half-Blood Prince" before I came.  Also, thought maybe reading the book again would have helped me get into the flow of the movie.  It took me a few minutes to realize what was happening.  

I still can't remember all details about the Horcruxes.  





Ah, I just went to Wikipedia and have now refreshed my memory.


Before you go...you need to refresh!   

Warning:  There is no beginning segment that will give you a clue.

I am now ready for Part II...oops! 


It will not be released until July.  I'll be sure and refresh before I go!  Of course, I'll go see it...it's the last one!!!!

Albert and Gage

Our favorites...We first heard Christine Albert and Chris Gage at the Acoustics Cafe at the Second Presbyterian Church.  




(The Acoustic Sounds Cafe lasted for ten years until Joe Henry, a volunteer director/organizer extraordinaire, decided it was time to hang it up for the good life.  It was wonderful.  We heard a lot of great acoustic artists.  Some well-known; some not so well-known.  How lucky were we to have the benefit of such a venue for great music.)

Albert and Gage are in Austin, Texas. 
Chris* and sometimes,

Christine, can be found at 
Donn's  Depot...actually old train cars linked together to make a really unique experience in live music. 








We actually sat at the piano bar with Chris on the keyboards.  We were really lucky because the night we were there Christine joined Chris.  

Connect to their link
and you can hear a
sample

My favorite album is TexaFrance by Christine accompanied by Chris.  It is a mixture of songs in French and English. I play La vie en rose...a lot! 


We subscribe to their email updates and keep thinking we'll make another trip to Austin to hear them.  So far, the timing is off...one of these days.

*My husband, AKA Chuck, thinks he is the best all-round musician he has ever heard.

DESIDERATA

This poem has meant a lot to me over the years.  I would like to share it and my pictures with you...

Desiderata

Max Erhmann 1927

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to other, even the dull and ignorant; they, too,      have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive person, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with other, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble, it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is, many persons strive for high ideals and everywhere life is full of heroism.


Be yourself, especially, do not feign affection.  Neither be cynical about love, for in the face or aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.  Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.


But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, 
no less than the trees and the stars, you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,

 whatever you conceive him to be,

and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.  Be careful.  

Strive to be happy.

THE FIFTH AGREEMENT by Miguel Ruiz

The Fifth Agreement: 
A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery 

by Miguel Ruiz  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Four Agreements
See Feb. 10, 2010 Post

Skip The Four Agreements 
Go directly to The Fifth Agreement!
You get all Five Agreements for the price of one!


1. Be impeccable with your word-
Never use the power of the word against yourself.


2. Don’t take anything personally-
All humans live in their own world, in their own movie/story/dream and you in yours.


3. Don’t make assumptions-
Most assumptions are not the truth; they are fiction.

4. Always do your best-The only thing you can “do”; 
the first three will naturally follow.


5. Be skeptical and listen for the truth-When you listen, 
you start to understand the story-both yours and theirs.


The message I heard:
I am two people: one that came into the world with a mission to share, the “real” me. After I got messages from all the people that helped me grow into an adult, I became the “virtual” me, a mixture of all those people's messages that I assumed were the truth.


Now I have to go back to the “real” me to find my mission. The one that was lost in all of confusion of other people's messages. The messages that may or may not have been true for me. I can do this by practicing these five agreements. I can get past the “virtual” me and back to the “real” me. When I do, I can share my mission.


Read the book, you may get a different message(s).


Read all my reviews

Morning Glory

Went to see "Morning Glory" this afternoon....second day after release.

It was really fun and made up for the bummer DVD rental night before last,

"It's Complicated".  

I met my friend on the back row of the theater.  She likes to sit on the last row and I am getting to like it, too.  My husband hasn't bought into it yet, but I am working on him.

Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton were great in their roles.  At one point we were "hold your sides" laughing. "Hold your sides" laughing is good for the soul!...and your health, if some reports are to be believed....and I do.

Oh, forgot.  I'm going to keep 
Patrick Wilson :)  and don't won't to leave out Rachel McAdams...she played her part to a "T"....




See another review at Fandango.

Sale Time at Central Arkansas Library

It's that time again...last one of the year! 

November 12-14 

10 to 4 - Fri. and Sat. 

(9am for FOCAL members)

1-4 - Sunday

FOCAL "Friends of the Library" holds a sale in the basement of the Main Library three times a year. What a bargain...$1 hardbacks; paperbacks are 50 cents. You can even find records, videos, and CD's. 


If you are in our area, come join us.  I'll be there on Saturday.  

My contribution
using old LP's and CD's

My current assignment is the Children's Section. I really had fun with it.  I love organizing and decorating it. 

We were really lucky to have a mural artist volunteer her time to paint these wonder scenes on the walls and columns.

Rapunzel in the Romance Section

Don't you agree?







This sale be my "Swan Song" as a weekly volunteer.  For the  last three years  I shelved Religion, Biography, Memoirs, Humor, Western, Education, Odds and Ends and New Age.  I will miss the sale room and my fellow volunteers, but it's time for a change. The change is as a part-time Library Assistant at the branch library close to my house.  I love all my fellow workers and working with patrons.  I am not leaving the library; I am just going to get paid for working.  

Yea!  Sing a song for a paid job after retirement! :D

It's Complicated

It was all I could do to wait until I got off work to give you my thoughts about this "inane" movie...does that give you a little hint?


We actually rented this movie from Blockbuster.  In other words, we spent money to see it.  It certainly doesn't pass the worthiness test: worthy enough to pay money to see it at the theater.  This one isn't worthy enough of the rental price.  We should have checked it out of the library.  


Why is it that actors of the caliber of Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin agree to make such a silly movie? If they were trying to reach the level of "Something's Gotta Give" with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson, they failed.  Usually Meryl Streep is good in anything she does. I guess if this character was what the director wanted, she did great!...surely she didn't decide to play it as an empty-nest, middle age, divorced mother who giggles at everything.  She actually seemed like a mature adult until the last five minutes of the movie.  As far as Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin...well, both were miscast, IMO.  If they wanted a romantic comedy vehicle, this wasn't the one.  They were completely unbelievable in their parts.  

I know you are bored by now...so...I give up.  Phewww!

Lowcountry Summer

Lowcountry Summer: 
A Plantation Novel
by Dorothea Benton Frank


 I actually read only 50 pages of this book.  I chose to read this book as a download test for my new Nook.  I thought I would try a book that was not my usual fare. I found that I did not like the change.


I prefer "soft" mysteries and romance, both historical and certain authors writing contemporary stories. I also like some non-fiction: self-help, inspirational, how-to's, arts and crafts. I used to like biographies, but now it seems that all new ones are written by or about people that lived during my lifetime. I read about their lives then and don't want to read about them again.


I know that Dorothea Benton Frank is a popular author in the General Fiction Genre. I work at the library and shelve Fiction books. Her books are continually checked out and I reshelve them daily.


I know that was more information than you needed, but I needed to say it.


View all my reviews

I Bought a Nook

I finally did it.  I bought an e-reader...Barnes and Noble's Nook.  I made the decision mainly to enable me to download from my library.  That limited me to a Sony e-Reader or a Nook.  They do not support Kindle at this time.  The library doesn't have a large inventory, but has a variety of books across all genres.


After a phone call to Barnes and Noble and the library, I finally got the Adobe Digital Editions to recognize the Nook.  After that it was simple...just drag and drop. I love it.  The Nook is so much easier to handle than a book. Also, I can slip it in my purse and take it with me to the doctor/dentist office.  It makes waiting go much faster!

The first book I downloaded was "Lowcountry Summer" by Deborah Benton Frank.  I have read 40 pages, more or less.  This is not the genre I normally read.  


I discovered that I prefer my usual...
Regency Romance, Nora Roberts' Contemporary Romance and Mystery.  


I'll read a few more pages. I like to give a new book at least 50 pages to see if it captures my attention.  If not, I give myself permission to let it go.  

Wall Street, the Movie

I didn't see the movie.  My husband went and said it was a "tear jerker"  I wasn't in the mood for a "what happened next" movie. Something told me that is would be a "tear jerker".  I wasn't in the mood to cry through a movie.  Believe me;  it is not a pretty sight.  When I cry...red eyes....red nose...can't breath.  


Regardless, he came home talking about the music.  We bought it ASAP.  His comment..."Normally, I don't think about the music in a movie.  This was a first.  The music was great!"


I have to agree.  It is wonderful.  I find myself humming the first song in my mind when I wake up and sometimes during the day it will just "be there".  Brian Eno came through to us as a crossword puzzle word...eno.
Somehow, we missed him.  We love his style.

XANADU

A peek at the past....
I had never seen "Xanadu" with Olivia Newton John.*  It was time.  I spotted it on the DVD shelf at my library and figured it was a "sign".  It went home with me.  My husband usually watches DVDs with me.  He is a "movie" person, but declined on this one.  He had seen it twice and didn't think he could ever again...although he had recommended it to me.  All he remembered:"it was about skating"

It was a typical '80's musical/romance movie. I grew up on 40's and 50's musical/romance movies. It was right up my alley....a "happily ever after fan" and proud of it!

7 Foot Tall Carved Stone Post
remains from Xanadu

As coincidences go..The Week Magazine reported this week on the the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, opened an exhibit, "The World of Khubilai Khan".  In the exhibit is a carved stone post, nearly 7 feet tall, that is almost all that remains of Xanadu, Khubilai Khan's legendary private retreat.

"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea."  

First verse...Coleridge Poem  

*Michael Beck co-starred...Whatever happened to Him??? Click link to article in USA TODAY