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How’s the weather your way?

February 1st, 2012 | Add a Comment

I could care less whether or not Phil sees his shadow on Groundhog Day tomorrow, however, it did get me to thinking about the weather and reminded me to mention something else that has become very dear to my heart. A couple of years ago, I became a volunteer Weather Spotter. What most people think when they hear “weather spotter” is someone running around in a car chasing storms, i.e. what’s commonly called a storm chaser, but that’s not what I do or have even been trained for. Oh, it’s true that the Weather Service does offer elite training for what they call mobile spotters and there certainly are people crazy enough to get out there and chase storms, but here’s the thing – mobile spotting is only truly useful in … Read entire article »

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Run for your life – no really

I love cozy mysteries. Watching them. Sometimes reading them, too. But don’t think it’s because they have a “lighter” tone than other mysteries do. Cozies tend to be more quirky, sure, but the one thing that cozy mysteries have that most other mysteries don’t is a very large body count. Don’t believe me? Well, check out this quote: Why would anyone be down on cozies in particular? When you think about it, just how cozy are they? How cozy would you feel tucked away in your pristine English country village, at your church potluck supper or your Tuesday evening quilting circle, with neighbors dropping dead all around you? Honestly, if they’d stopped to consider the body count she … Read entire article »

One of my favorite places on the web

I’m not sure how long it’s been part of the LOL network but I fell in love with Set Phasers To LOL from the first moment I saw it. Partly because like the other LOL sites it has lots of funny stuff, but also because it has its only unique slant/approach to doing things. Which generally involves a combination of the normal captioning of pictures (or in this case screen captures) the LOL sites are known for with a liberal sprinkling of fandom lore that I find equally fascinating. Such as the It Came From Science Fiction post illustrated below: see more Set Phasers To Lol If you click through to the post itself, you’ll find a … Read entire article »

Want now please ;-)

I reblogged about this on Tumblr but couldn’t resist mentioning it here too because he’s just soooo cute and happy looking as a Transformer. If you don’t recognize The Mystery Machine, I don’t know you. So just go away and let me have my fan moment in peace. Heh. Related Posts:Where are you, Scooby Doo? … Read entire article »

Oh, my aching back

I cracked up when I ran across this over on one of the LOL sites: see more Set Phasers To Lol In case you can’t figure it out, it’s a fantasy author attempting to imitate the poses on some of, I think, his books. They may not be all his books but whatever. It’s still hilarious that he basically ended up almost doing injury to himself in the attempt. Related Posts:A hand, but what’s it doing?another body parts puzzle … Read entire article »

Why do I keep falling for this stuff when I know what’s going to happen eventually?

I had intended to post on another topic today but between slowly recovering from a cold, a bad elbow that’s limiting my typing and family activities over the weekend that post isn’t ready yet. However a mini-rant came to me out of the blue a couple of nights ago so you get the benefit of that. Anyway, I was in the mood for some detective shows and had sat down to watch the TIVO recording of Monday’s episode of the new Hawaii Five-O and immediately noticed that the description was only two sentences – not unusual – but one was about McGarrett’s personal life, the other was about Danno’s and there was nothing about … Read entire article »

Does it make me smile?

Does it make me smile?

A few days before Christmas, the strap on my handbag broke and I decided to treat myself to a last minute Christmas present so I stopped by J C Penney with my daughter. I’ve always liked their selection because most of them are organizer bags, they come in a wide range of sizes and materials, are well-made and durable plus … Read entire article »

Taking the time to listen – to myself

Sometime last year I realized how tired I was of endlessly discussing romance novels online. Yeah, there I said it. Okay, to be fair, it wasn’t so much talking about them altogether as the repetitive way we romance fans tend to beat some topics surrounding them to death at times. That may or may not sound like a strange, rather contradictory thing to say, but it’s a true one, nonetheless. Then again, I also considered that maybe it had more to do with personal perspective than actual topic repetition. What I mean is simply this, as both a longtime reader of romances and someone who has been online talking about them for almost two decades, I decided … Read entire article »

Superman Homepage – News: November 4, 2010: Update on Noel Neill’s Health

November 4, 2010: Update on Noel Neill’s Health Noel Neill’s friend and biographer Larry Thomas Ward sent out the following open letter to let Noel’s fans know how she’s coming along after fracturing her hip in recent months. Dear Friends, As an update regarding Noel’s health, I am happy to report that her hip fracture has healed. She can now gingerly walk with assistance – mostly with a walker – but continues to be in constant danger of falling. She does walk with a noticeable limp. She has, however, developed other serious health concerns – most notably severe arthritis in both hips – that will not be healed as quickly, if at all. Just so you know, Noel’s … Read entire article »

I guess it helps to know who wrote it!

Yeah, ain’t that the truth. I’ve been quiet lately, real life and all, which I really need to tell you all about, but yesterday something rather humorous happened that I wanted to share. Cathy from TN contacted me wanting some help finding a book. She was hoping I knew of it. Well, I did.At least I thought I did. I just needed my memory tweaked a bit. Okay, more than just a bit, but nobody is perfect. o.O First here’s her initial question: I found your website when I was researching Emilie Loring book titles. I am hoping that you can help me remember the title of a book she wrote that I read as a teenager. The … Read entire article »

Series finales, ugh

I hate season finales on television. Not series finales where they wrap up the whole thing, although those can be seriously hit-and-miss in terms of satisfaction level. Season finales, though, year-to-year, are almost torture for me nowadays. I have a strong suspicion it has to do with the obsession with cliffhangers endings for season endings, in particular in broadcast American TV, and I never really noticed this until I started watching stuff like Doctor Who on BBCA which doesn’t end in cliffhangers each year. But there’s two of my favorites this year that I can’t yet bring myself to watch the season finales on because I just know they’re going to be cliffhangers – Hawaii Five-O and Castle. And it’s annoying to … Read entire article »

My jaw just dropped

Well, it was either that or my eyes popping out of my head. Vintage Tupperware — Lock in Freshness with Retro Flair Tupperware (r) is an American institution, both because it epitomizes the promise of “plastics” and because the company created the Tupperware Party. At Tupperware parties, the “Tupperware Ladies” (remember the song?) demonstrated the latest and greatest new bowls, kitchen tools and even toys (like the Zoo-It-Yourself toy pictured.) Guaranteed to last forever and ever without chipping, cracking, peeling or breaking, vintage and new Tupperware is still in use in kitchens across America. via Vintage Tupperware Collecting. It’s not so much the concept of people collecting Tupperware as that it’s considered vintage that gets me… although I something … Read entire article »

This is nice

And just because I need a break from the weather : The Harlequin lovebirds are going to be parents. Quest — one half of a pair of rare peregrine falcons, who fell in love on a ledge across from the headquarters of the largest producer of romance novels in the world — laid her first egg Tuesday afternoon. Burnt orange and speckled, it was spotted by the executive assistant to Harlequin’s CEO. Employees at their offices in North York set up telescopes to watch over the birds last week. “Delight and hysteria!” said CEO Donna Hayes of the mood. The avid bird watcher was the first person to spot the flirting falcons. On Tuesday, Quest, who hails from Rochester, … Read entire article »

My reading list on Goodreads

Because I want to focus more on the older books in my collection here on the site plus play around with some other collectible not-necessarily book stuff, I’ve decided to use Goodreads to keep track of what I’m currently reading on a day-to-day basis.  Yeah, I know, it sounds counter-intuitive but, trust me, it’s not. One of the reasons I took such a long break from blogging this last year was that I honestly hate, um, blogging. Well, actually, anything resembling keeping a diary and I’d been attempting to maintain a site like this for over ten years, well before blogging even existed. It wasn’t simply that I needed a break from blogging. I needed … Read entire article »

Someone who gets “it”

I found this today on the blog of the man who basically wrote the definition of what fan fiction is: And yes, I know what Fillion’s worried about — he’s worried about seeing something like what has happened to House this season. But the problem with House is not that House and Cuddy are in a relationship. The problem is that the writers do not have a clue how to depict a relationship between House and Cuddy in a way which shows any kind of emotional maturity, any kind of psychological depth, and any kind of personal growth. I often suspect that Hollywood’s inability to depict relationships that grow over time has everything to do with the … Read entire article »

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