Friday Five

1. The Ryder Cup officials placed Arnold Palmer's golf bag on the first tee today as a silent tribute to the king. It was the most perfect tribute to Arnold Palmer that anyone could ever think of.  It's beautiful and sweet and most importantly, it's everything Arnie would have loved.  

2. For someone who has shared his dislike of pets in multiple interviews, I find it hilarious that David Tennant was roped into judging the Chiswick Dog Show.  What I find even funnier is that there's a "fancy dress" competition for dogs with a "royalty" theme this year - in honor of the Queen's 90th birthday.  Cute dogs and David Tennant? What more could you want?

          

3. If you haven't seen the Will & Grace themed ad for Hillary Clinton yet, you're totally missing out.  But what may have been better was the lead-up to it.  They managed to sneak the filming past everyone, and then toyed with everyone on Twitter and Facebook.  It was some seriously fun PR and marketing for a seriously fun 10 minutes of fabulousness.  I was ok with no more Will & Grace before the video, now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they actually revive it.  It would be awesome! 

4. In a world where Donald Trump tweeted about someone's sex tape today, political civility like the Obama's and the Bush's showed this past weekend is fairly special to see.  If politics continues to get uglier and uglier - just games of name calling - it will be a long time until we see something like this again.  We might as well savor it while we have it.

5. Labyrinth! To say I love Labyrinth, would be an understatement.  I'm a huge fan!  I just love the puppets and the fantasy and the fun! So any new story on it, and I get very excited. I loved hearing about the behind the scenes from the baby himself. And honestly, a new version of the music with new puppets is just too much fun to resist!  

September Reads in Review

There's not much to say about the month of September's reading selections other than they were quite all over the place.  For some reason, I couldn't concentrate this month and it took me a long time to get interested.  There were a few other books that I started but just couldn't get interested in so I tossed them.  Hoping to up the game in October and be better about my selections - and hopefully clear out the must read pile.

"Educating Esme" by Esme Raji Codell - This was read way back in the beginning of the month before I got antsy.  It took all of about 3 hours to finish it.  It was a great story of a first year teacher in Inner City Chicago.  Such a great book for new teachers and old teachers alike.

"The Island of Dr. Libris" by Chris Grabenstein - This was a follow-up to "Mr. Limoncello's Library." It was a cute story with lots of literary references but not as good as Mr. Limoncello.  

"The Creature Department" by Robert Paul Weston - I will fully cop to only purchasing this book because of the cute cover.  It was chock full of neon monsters that looked a lot like Jim Henson monsters.  Unfortunately, the story wasn't as great as the cover.  It had a great message for kids - believe in the impossible - but the story sort of dragged.

"Big Magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert - I'm one of the very few girls in the entire world that never finished "Eat. Pray. Love." It just didn't capture my attention.  But so many people had talked about how wonderful she was as a writer, I just had to give her next book a shot.  Also, I was craving a way to get more creative in my life.  It was a fabulous book, but I'm not sure she wrote about anything groundbreaking.  In the end the major message was, choose to be creative and just do it.

"Key of Light" by Nora Roberts - Honestly I haven't even finished this one yet but I've been carrying it with me for most of the month.  My boss raved about this trilogy and she's been dying for me to read it.  The downside of this is that I hate it.  I just can't get into it.  It's all about Celtic mythology and legend.  So not my thing, so even though I've been carrying it around, I've been avoiding reading it.  Though, since I'm a good employee, I've resigned myself to finish at least this first book.  I'm not sure I have the will power for the next two...

The Time I Got Bitten by a Bug

In 2005 I was given the chance to travel to the UK.  It was a random happenstance that will probably never happen again - though I'm constantly hoping it will.  I was teaching at the time, and one of the families I was close with traveled a great deal.  They were headed off to London right after Christmas, and wanted someone to go with them to watch the kids a night or 2 so they could have some alone time in the city.  Since the kids were lovely and the family was lovely, I was totally cool with that arrangement.

Seeing as the family would pay for my plane ticket, as well as my hotel, the trip was virtually a no brainer.  That is why I found myself flying to London - completely on my own (they had left before Christmas and I was due to meet them there a few days later.) I've never felt so brave or bold.  There's not much I remember about the flight - 8 hours in a plane next to a snorer so I probably blocked most of it out.  I do remember I read "700 Sundays" by Billy Crystal and proceeded to cry silently over that for at least an hour.  Fun times.

As I'm writing this I'm just realizing I don't even remember anything about Customs or baggage claim (even then I hadn't mastered the ability to only pack using a carry on.)  As someone who's landed at Heathrow twice since, I can't believe I ever found my way out of there onto the Tube and then into a cab.  I get lost in my hometown all the time, and this was a foreign country in a HUGE city.  How am I not still wandering around Heathrow? Blocking all of that out, the very first thing I do remember is the ride in the cab to the flat in Notting Hill.  I managed to call a cab and find the flat all by my lonesome - yet another feat of bravery on my part, even if I do say so myself.

I was amazed at the row of houses on Edgware Road.  This was like no apartment I've ever seen.  When Americans think of apartments, they picture tall buildings not beautiful brownstones.  And yet here I was, on the second floor of a walk-up entering a cute flat where I'd be staying for the next 4 days.  It was Christmas-time.  It was snowing. I was in London. And it was GORGEOUS!

The family never did ask me to watch the kids, even though I offered many times.  We all went out together to see Tower Bridge, the London Eye and do some other sight-seeing. They even gave me time to myself one day.  That's when I discovered wandering around.  I hadn't a clue where I was and I could most definitely not read a map.  So I wandered.  I walked around Carnaby Street and through Picadilly.  I found Fortnum & Mason and bought massive amounts of tea. I walked the Portobello Road market - imagining bumping into Hugh Grant a la Notting Hill the entire time.  I even went into a pub - The Blue Post - and had Bangers and Mash.  It was quite perfect and utterly wonderful.

After 4 days, I left and flew home, alone again as they were headed to see family in another state.  I don't remember anything at all about that flight either.  Though, I'm assuming I slept since that's what I do in any moving vehicle that I'm not driving. It was a quick trip, but it sealed the deal for me.  I would have the travel bug for good now.  And I was bitten by the specific European travel bug - the one that says, why stay in the states when you could visit somewhere more exotic? (I suppose exotic isn't the first word you think of when you think of the UK, but you get the picture.)  

That one small adventure taught me how to travel and how I like to travel - food, shopping, wandering, no set in stone plans, as often as I can- and I'll always be eternally grateful.  

Trivia Tuesday

~ With 2 questions this evening on Arnold Palmer, I completely let the team and Arnie down.  I read countless articles this week on the man, and yet couldn't tell you where he went to college (Wake Forest.) Also, he won 92 tournaments all together - a number I would have sworn to on my death bed.  And it turns out I would have been correct - if that had been the question that was asked.  He only won 62 on the PGA tour.  (I was so darn sure of myself, that the question-asker apologized to me for the stupid question : )

~ It turns out that if you're going to ask, in a sports bar, the name of the baseball player that tragically passed away earlier this week, logic requires that name to pop up on at least 3 of the television sets at the exact moment you ask the question...

~ Anthony Hopkins is Welsh (also he narrated How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Jim Carrey) which ups the number of Welsh actors I know to 2 - Ioan Gruffud and now Anthony Hopkins.  Luckily another team mate knew both Welsh actors and guessed Sir Hopkins.  Yay Wales for having just a few actors!

~ For being huge Beatles Nerds, when an entire round was dedicated to them - we only managed to get 1 question right.  Though, we'd like to challenge that a question asking who is number 2 to the Beatles in regards to number of number 1 hits is not technically a Beatles question.  It's sort of a Mariah Carey question - or in our case a Madonna question seeing as we answered it incorrectly...

~ Peggle and Bedazzled are 2 of only computer games that I've actually played.  PopCap makes them.  PopCap is based in Oregon and is a subsidiary of EA.  All of this I didn't know before I went to Trivia this afternoon.  A random guess at the only game maker I know - Nintendo - was less than helpful.

~ The Metropolitan Museum of Art is bigger than the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. How is this possible?  I mean, really?  The Air and Space Museum has a space shuttle inside of it!

~ The binnacle is where one holds their compass on a boat - not extra sails.  In my defense the logic for extra sails was sound - Binnacle sounds like Barnacle which are usually on the bottom of a boat, so in the bottom of the boat is where extra sails are kept.  See?  At least I had a good reason for being wrong... 

Farewell to the King

I may not play golf, but I grew up with my grandfather loving the sport.  That's why I love watching it so much.  And no other player loomed quite as large over the sport as Arnold Palmer.  He made golf what it is today.  He brought the sport to the masses.  However, his biggest accomplishment was bringing himself and his personality to the sport.  He was a kind and generous man.  He showed the younger players how to act on and off the greens and really created the gentlemanly game of golf you see today.  

Most of all he loved the game and loved the guys he got to play with year after year.  He was never above joking around on the course, because he was having fun.  He knew, when it all came down to it, golf is a game and it's supposed to be fun.  While his many wins - 92 to be exact - on the greens made him a legend, his accomplishments off the green may be more impressive.  He was a supporter of many charities, and has his name stamped on multiple hospital wings.  

After his career was over, he acted as an ambassador for golf playing in charity rounds and helping to mentor younger players.  Arnold Palmer was - in every sense of the word - a legend and he will be sorely missed by everyone who enjoys the game of golf.  But luckily, due to his kind words, good deeds and endless support of the game he loved this legend will live on in the golf world for years to come. 

Three of Me

Earlier this week, there was a hashtag going around like wildfire - #ThreeFictionalCharacters.  The goal was to choose 3 fictional characters that are most like you.  It's taken me a while but I think I finally figured it out.  I LOVED this idea when I first heard about it, but it's taken me the entire week to really nail down who I think I'm most like.  Now that I have those 3 characters, I'm fairly shocked I didn't think of them immediately.

1. Miranda, the character played by Miranda Hart in the BBC show Miranda: She's a single girl in her 30s.  She's awkward, sarcastic, unable to tell the cute boy she likes that she likes him and did I mention she's socially awkward?  In pretty much every episode there's at least one scene - usually more than one - that reminds me of myself.  Also, the cutie she's in love with is Tom Ellis whom I also think is adorable so we have the same taste in cute boys as well.  She's basically a 6'1" British me.
              

2. Dory from Finding Nemo - I have to admit I'm a bit forgetful, not to the extent Dory is, but I've been known to forget random things on a daily basis.  But Dory is also eternally optimistic.  She's a positive thinker and just likes to be around the people that love her. She's happy and enjoys life. She's helpful and is up for an adventure just to help Marlin.  She has all sorts of good qualities that I strive for, and sometimes succeed at. I also happen to think that Dory's advice to Just Keep Swimming is the best advice for anyone going through hard times.  
              

3. Donna Noble from Doctor Who - And I promise I'm not just saying Donna because she's my absolute favorite companion.  Donna is always ready for adventure.  She's lived a fairly boring life being a temp in Chiswick, and when given the chance for adventure and travel with the Doctor she's more than ready.  She's the perfect friend for the Doctor. She wants to see everything's she's missed over the years, and the Doctor is ready to show it to her. She's also completely sarcastic which is pretty much how I live my entire life.  And aside from choosing not to hug the Doctor - come on man!  who wouldn't hug David Tennant if given the chance?! - she's yet another me.
               

Maryland Eats - Hickory Ridge Grill

If you're ever in the area of Columbia Maryland, you really must try Hickory Ridge Grill.  A few months ago we happened upon it thanks to Yelp, and today we traveled back to celebrate someone's birthday.  And again it was super delicious!  

What makes this restaurant great, aside from the fabulous food, is the atmosphere and the service.  The owner is always around to chat with diners or answer any questions.  He seems like a super nice guy, and he's got a great sense of style - always in peppered chef's pants. : ) The wait staff are really sweet too and always ready to help.  

And there's the food - Delicious!  Their menu includes Italian, Greek, Burgers and Sandwiches - at least 10 or so of each.  The first time I went I had a yummy Chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes and garlic aioli with shoestring french fries.  I'm a sucker for shoe string fries so I was pretty happy with my decision.  This time around, I chose the same because I was craving shoestring fries.  My only complaint is that sometime between the last time I was there and this time, they changed out their fries.  No more shoestring - booo!  But the ones I did get were pretty good too, so I can't complain.

They also have an amazing dessert menu - most of which are HUGE slices of cake.  This week's special was Red Velvet which I couldn't pass up.  Enormous, chocolatey, and delicious!  All in all, Hickory Ridge Grill is the whole package.  A great restaurant with fantastic food, lovely people and laid-back atmosphere.  I highly recommend it!

Friday Five: Premiere Week Edition

I love me some summer TV but I love when the regular TV comes back.  That means summer's over, but it also means all sorts of cool old stuff and fun new stuff is coming on. Yay!  So these are my top 5 premieres of the season.

1. NCIS - As always, it was NCIS.  I thought I'd hate it without DiNozzo, but Jennifer Esposito and Wilmer Valderama fit right into the team.  Also, any excuse to see more of Agent Fornell and I'm a happy camper!

2. This is Us. - I wasn't really looking forward to this one, but I do admit I really enjoyed the big twist!  I won't spoil it for you if you haven't seen it yet, but it's pretty great.  The best thing about this show is the cast.  Everyone in it seems perfect for their roles.

3. The Good Place - It's a fairly ridiculous concept, and I have no idea how it's going to keep going, but I have to admit, it's pretty clever.  My favorite part is that no one can curse in heaven.  There's a lot of "forks" and "shirts" happening which is hilarious.

4. Speechless - I've been anxiously awaiting this one since I heard about it.  A show that actually gets special needs right.  It was funny, clever and very sweet.  I can't wait to see where it goes next. 

5. Lethal Weapon - As someone who's never seen the movies, I was a little skeptical about this one, but after the first hour I'm hooked.  Clayne Crawford - who plays Riggs - may just be the standout of this season.  He's so much better than he has to be for just a procedural.  It's nothing to write home about but it is super fun!  

Happy Birthday Bud!

Today is the day we celebrate my mom - also known as the best mom a girl could ever ask for.  She's funny, and sweet and kind and every other wonderful word you could possibly think of.  I love her to pieces and I hope she had a fabulous birthday!

Love you bud!

Hump Day

I have been wracking my brain for the last hour trying to think of something to say and I've come up with nothing.  This day just wasn't all that exciting.  I have lovely things to say tomorrow and Friday, but today there's just not much to talk about.

I mean, I could talk about Brangelina breaking up (Team Jennifer all the way!) but honestly every single news site is covering that whole sad story pretty thoroughly so there's not much to add.  

I could talk about how I loved the season premiere of NCIS much more than I thought I would and actually didn't miss Dinozzo as much as I assumed I would.  I also didn't really enjoy Bull with Dinozzo (aka Michael Weatherly) completely.  I'm fairly sure it will get better because George Washington (aka Chris Jackson) is in it too, so you really can't go wrong. But that's not interesting at all because who really cares about my love for all things NCIS, Hamilton and Michael Weatherly?

I could talk about how I received an email from someone today asking me if I'd write an email for her because she was much too busy to do it herself.  But apparently she wasn't too busy to write the initial email to me.  That's nothing but darn annoying - not interesting in the least.

Or at the very least, I could talk about how a woman at work has lent me a series of Nora Roberts books about something Irish and Mystical, and I really don't want to read them at all.  However I feel bad because she loved them so much and I'm assuming she's going to want to talk about them so I'm going to try to read them - even though I have a stockpile of 12 books on my shelf right now that I actually want to read instead.  But really that's also not at all that interesting - just par for the course when it comes to me.

So you see, today was just a normal hump day where nothing at all happened...

Trivia Tuesday

~ I have a complete inability to flirt.  When a cute boy with a super cute dog walks by, I will talk only to the dog then go on my merry way...

~ My super cute Talbot's cardigan makes me look like an "art teacher." I'm ok with it, because I love that sweater!

~ The first 2 questions out of the gate were about things most of us had never heard of - Corey Feldman signing a weird song on the Today show and where Anheuser Busch has its HQ.  However the very last question EVERYONE knew.  I think the trivia writers were playing it a bit backward tonight.

~ Even though our entire table was 99% sure that we had the Halftime question before, we still managed to completely bomb it, only guessing 2 of the 6 answers correctly.  Who knew there were loads of billionaires in the UK & Brazil?  Certainly not us?  There's a great banking system in Switzerland, why the heck don't they all live there?

~ Everyone loves the movie Toy Story (except the 2 weirdos on my team that have never seen it...) yet I hadn't a clue the year it came out (1995), who voiced Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles) and who wrote the music (Randy Newman.)  I feel like this is one of those categories I should most definitely have known.  

~ The answer to the Cold People question was not me.  I feel like they missed a chance there.

~ We learned new words tonight - Punic Wars, Phoenician, Phyrgian.  And I've just realized they all begin with P.  Not that that helped us at all, we only learned that the words were a thing.  We still don't know what they actually mean.

~ Multiple people noticing that the number answer you've just written is a palindrome is a simple pleasure of nerds.

~ A Giant Squid could have an eye that is up to 10 inches in diameter.  A fact that I could have lived my entire life peacefully getting into the ocean, without knowing.  Now that's all I can think about...Creepy!

~ Finally a Broadway question!  And yep, I didn't know the answer.  Luckily the English teacher - who's never read Romeo and Juliet (a fact that I just learned and find alarming, but has nothing to do with this particular question) - knew that Raisin in the Sun was revived by Denzel Washington.

First week score: 118 - Not too shabby!  It helps that the question was super simple and revolved around the 2 HBO shows that won at the Emmy's this past weekend.  Yay for post award show recaps!

Torn

This football season, there's been a lot of talk around what players are kneeling during the anthem, and which ones aren't.  There have been quite a few that have decided to take a knee to protest their rights.  As a fan, I'm completely torn over the whole thing.

On one hand, as Americans they have the right to peacefully protest situations they find unfair.  They aren't hurting anyone and they aren't being violent, or angry.  They're quietly sharing their thoughts on the matter at hand.  That's an honorable act and something that's proven change.  I may not like it, but I believe they have the right to do it.

But on the other hand, I really don't like that they're doing it this way.  When the chatter of more players joining in began, it was September 11.  How could these players even think of anything else but honoring the first responders, the victims of the attacks and their families and friends?  Military and First Responders were at the games that weekend holding up giant flags, and some players still decided to kneel. 

Also, the players that are making millions and millions of dollars are protesting the entire US police force.  This is the same police force that is putting their lives on the line to protect them at games, and at public appearances, that aren't making a fraction of what the players are making for a single game.  Yes, there are some bad officers out there and changes do need to happen, but you can't say that every single cop is bad.  A majority of the force are good people that go to work everyday and work to keep us safe.

So that's where I am right now.  I hate seeing these players crucified for peacefully protesting, but I also hate some of these players bad-mouthing and stereotyping all police officers for doing their jobs.  

Quite the Eventful Afternoon...

After the worst first quarter I've ever seen, this was the understatement of the decade! But 3 quarters later they managed to come out on top.  Knowing they were playing for Coach Brooks - who passed away yesterday from Cancer - they knew they just had to win.  But of course, you wouldn't have known that if you would have seen the first 15 minutes.

I was supposed to get new cable today and was bummed that I'd be missing the game.  Long story short, the stupid cable install didn't go as planned and I had the chance to watch the game instead - 20 - 2 in 10 minutes wasn't exactly what I was expecting.  At that point, I was ready to just go back home and fight with the cable company again.  At least that was somewhat productive.

But as the team said, the game was for Coach Brooks and they pulled it out in the end.  I didn't see Coach Harbaugh's press conference but I can almost guarantee he announced his favorite quote after a hard earned win - "it was ugly, but at least they won."

And it wasn't pretty, but at the very least, Monday isn't quite so ugly (it's still pretty ugly...) when the Raven's win.  : )

Come From Away

What I'm about to say may be blasphemous, however it needs to be said.  I may have liked Come From Away more than I liked Hamilton.  Scandalous, I know.  But you have no idea just how much I enjoyed this show.  I literally sat in my seat with a big ol' smile the entire 2 hours.  I couldn't get the grin off my face - it was just that good.  

Come From Away is the story of the town of Gander, Newfoundland on September 11, 2001. Since they were the only airport in the North that was big enough, they took in 38 planes that day when the American airspace was closed.  Gander, a town of only a few thousand, managed to house 7000 people that week.  On such a horrible day, the people of Gander managed to make these people from all over the world feel welcome and accepted.  

The story enough is just so powerful, but to see it in musical form is even better.  The small cast of about 12, managed to slip in and our of parts flawlessly.  Sometimes they played Newfoundlanders and sometimes they played "plane people." And those "plane people" were sometimes from all over the world.  I can't imagine being an actor and keeping those characters straight in my head, but this cast did it beautifully.  The writers managed to make this sweet story so much funnier than I thought it would be.  All of the characters had their own quirks, and the jokes that were slipped in were perfect.  Whoever cast this group of actors deserves some serious credit because there were outstanding!  

Then there was the music which was all provided by a small band on stage - very celtic and very cool.  It reminded me a lot of Once, and I absolutely loved it.  The songs were sometimes sweet, sometimes funny and sometimes sad, but all the time fabulous, and somehow managed to link everyone's story together in big mash-up.  The only thing I kept thinking was "Oh my goodness, I can't wait for this album to come out, because it's going to be awesome!"  

Last but not least, as a nod to Hamilton I suppose, they used a turn-table in their set design too, which I always find super impressive.  Their use of the tiny stage was pretty remarkable. Besides the turn-table, there wasn't much more than some chairs that stood in for bus seats, plane seats, cots, bar stools and at one point, a cliff overlooking a ravene.  But the lighting made all of it work.  I'm a sucker for creative staging and this one of the best I've ever seen - not to give too many secrets and surprises away. 

Basically Come From Away is the full package - it's funny without ever being mean, their message of kindness and helping their fellow man is truly needed right now, the music was fun and fast and super sing along-able, the cast was completely perfect, and lastly the story was one of the best that's ever been written that just happens to be lucky enough to be true. I just loved every bit of it and I can't wait to see it again!!

Friday Five

1. Talk about making the best of a bad situation.  I'm in love with the idea that she decided to use creativity to kick Cancer's butt.  What an awesome way to take control and make art! You go girl!

2. A few months ago, it was announced that Bette Midler would be starring in Hello Dolly! on Broadway in 2017.  Then it was announced that David Hyde Pierce would be starring along side her.  Then today, they broke the bank by announcing tickets are going on sale tomorrow AND Gavin Creel & Jennifer Simard would also be in the production! Holy great casting Batman!  I predict the tickets will go as quickly as Hamilton...

3. This little guy going bonkers for the dog park is just the cutest!  For the record, I react much the same when I see a bookstore or a scrapbook store...

4. Little Miss Flint's reactions to President Obama and Donald Trump perfectly sum up my reactions to them both.  I'm fairly certain her facial expression when meeting Trump, mirrors the sane people in the US that can't even fathom 4 years of this moron.

5. Next week, new TV starts!  Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of summer tv, but it's all pretty much over now so I'm ready for the good stuff.  I'm looking forward to checking out Bull, Speechless, and Designated Survivor.  As well as old favorites like NCIS'es, Big Bang Theory and Madam Secretary.  Yay for no repeats!

Sad Day / Happy Future

When I was in NYC this weekend, I walked past 4 different theaters that were breaking down their stages because the shows that lived there had closed.  It was super sad to see. Those shows had been running for a while and had employed lots of actors and stage hands and creatives and this means that they're out of work now.  I know for new wonderful shows to open, old shows have to close but that doesn't make it any sadder.

And today comes word that 2 more shows are closing - The Humans and my very favorite Something Rotten!  I've never seen The Humans but I hear it's wonderful. (I'd probably see it if I was sure I wouldn't cry - but I heard it's quite sad, so there's that.)  But I'm sort of ok with it closing because it had a much longer run that it was supposed to and by closing, it'll make way for Come From Away which I can't wait to see.  But Something Rotten!?  I've seen it 3 times and I could probably see it another 3.  It's funny and sweet and a fabulous way to spend 2 hours.  I loved all the creativity and the amazing cast!

And as of right now, they're not saying what's moving in.  The St. James is one of the oldest and most beautiful theatres on Broadway and it would be very sad to see it sit vacant for even a little while.  I heard a rumor a few months ago that Frozen the musical would be moving into the St. James but that hasn't been confirmed yet.  I'm not sure what I feel worse about seeing it vacant or seeing a ridiculous show like Frozen the Musical take up residence. Don't get me wrong Frozen the movie is quite cute, but EVERYTHING has been Frozen-fied. Does Broadway need it too?

While I'm sad about all the open space, I'm still pretty excited to see what's coming next.  If the shows that have already been announced are any indication of what the 2017 season will bring, it's sure to be a fabulous year for Broadway fans!

Baltimore and Books

So often, when Baltimore is in the spotlight, it's because of something bad has happened - usually a terrible murder, or riots or even drug deals gone wrong.  It's hardly ever for wonderful things.  Don't get me wrong, wonderful things do happen here.  They're just not as interesting to report I suppose.  It's easier to have everyone think Baltimore is exactly like The Wire (I'm looking at you Bourdain!)

However, today something wonderful did happen and most stations chose to report it.  Carla Hayden, the chief librarian at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore City became the Librarian of Congress.  She's the very first woman and the very first person of color to hold what may very well be the coolest position in the entire world!  Just imagine getting to spend your days with all those books! It sounds heavenly!  But I digress...

She is an all around awesome human being and I'm super proud to say I'm from her State. When everyone else is saying that libraries are dying, and technology is the new king, she's found a way to bridge the divide.  She's given technology a home among all the books and she's shown that libraries can still thrive in this new tech-heavy environment.

On top of her openness to new ideas, she also has a loving spirit which helped her decide to open the doors to the Enoch Pratt Library last April when the city was rioting.  She thought the library could act as a safe haven for those trying to avoid the violence. She showed the children that came through those doors that they'd always have a home in the books and stacks of that library.

A hometown girl building a career around getting people to read and to love books? I mean really, how can you not like her!?  

Trivia Tuesday

~ For a fantasy and sci-fi fan, I apparently have never seen any robot movies.  The half-time question named 5 robots and you had to name the movie.  I can honestly say I'd never heard of any of them!  Who knew robot was such a popular genre?

~ Drinking a beer through a straw is disgusting in the words of the person that had to do it - aka not me.  However, he did win everyone shots, so I suppose he was good at it.

~ Having to place lyrics from a song, while another song is playing is incredibly impossible.  Though according to the trivia asker, everyone does the same thing while doing it - closes their eyes, puts their heads down and places their hands firmly over their ears.  He's totally right.  Everyone on my team, including me did the same thing before we were told about it.

~ Hyperthyrodism is a decrease in iodine in the system not iron.  Why have I NEVER heard this before?

~ Jefferson City is a state capital and is the state capital with the longest name.  These are 2 things that we never knew.  The Animaniacs have been lying to Jen for years! Her patented Animaniac song for remembering the state capitals, names Jefferson as the capital not Jefferson City...

~ I sort of hate myself a little - why do I know that Blac Chyna is dating Rob Kardashian?  More importantly why do I know who these 2 even are?

~ There's some indecision about how to pronounce the Disney Princess Merida.  Do you stress the I or the Mer?  

~ This little mark that I've been using for my bullets in this post means approximately, but only in computer code  After arguing whether or not you needed two of them to mean approximately or just 1, we determined the computer code answer.  This means I'm still right so I'm going with the win.

~ And in the end, I'll take any win I can get seeing as we completed the night with 19 points...

Secretly British

For the last few months, I've been following the tweets of "Very British Problems." It's full of terrifying things that happen on a daily basis to Brits and it's fairly hilarious!  This one is my favorite because I've totally done this before!  Anyway, I know in Britain that they also have a television show that goes along with the account, full of British people talking about their problems.  But I didn't know that it would come to American Netflix.  

You can probably guess what I've been doing the last 2 nights.  I love it!  It's way too funny and it's the perfect accompaniment to crafting.  I enjoy it immensely more than I probably should.  However, I also get just a little creeped out.  They tend to pick on us Americans quite a bit.  That's not why I'm creeped out though - we totally deserve it.  I totally side with the Brits rather than my fellow Americans in every single instance.  No, I get creeped out because I've become even more certain that I'm actually British and everyone around me has just hidden that fact for the last 33 years.  

Here's a list of the things that they've described as "Very British" that I do on a daily basis.

~ Never reclining your seat on an airplane because it's just rude to the person behind you.  I absolutely refuse to do this.

~ Getting physically ill thinking about having to haggle the price of something. - Just give me a price.  Even if it's ridiculous, I'll probably buy it from you since I've wasted your time asking for the price already.

~ Going James Bond on vacation trying to avoid people that want to be your new best friends and want to talk your ears off. - Please leave me alone.  I'm awkward enough at home, let alone while on the beach.

~ Saying the words "I'm sorry" incessantly, even if you've done absolutely nothing wrong. - I often apologize when someone bumps me with their shopping cart or if someone is in my way.

~ Explaining your gifts to people just so they know you've actually put thought into it and then apologizing if they don't seem to like it.

~ The complete inability to take a compliment with grace.  - I have no idea what to say when someone compliments me.  I flush, and mumble a thank you or wave it off with a "Oh, it's nothing really."

And this is just 3 episodes in.  I've got 5 more to watch.  I can't imagine how many more similarities I'll find.  Do you think the UK would grant me citizenship on these traits alone?

Hamilton Day

About a year ago, I started hearing about Hamilton.  When it was off-Broadway at the Public, lots of people I follow started talking about how revolutionary the show was.  At the time all I knew was that it was a rap show about the country's first head of Treasury.  That right there, that wasn't for me.  About 3 months after that it had moved to Broadway and I couldn't resist anymore. Everyone who was everyone was talking about it, so I decided that as a good Broadway fan, I'd need to get tickets. 

And I did - for 10 months later.  I'm fairy certain this was the first time I'd purchased tickets in November for a show in September of the following year.  Needless to say - with all the press and amazingness surrounding Hamilton - it was a very long 10 months. I did my very best to resist listening to any of the music - except for the 2-3 songs that were always played on talk shows and award shows.  But someone who got to see the show before me, suggested that I listen to it before seeing it because, as she said, I don't have the ear for rap (she's very right about that!) and it's hard to understand exactly what's happening upon first hearing. 

I'm so very happy that I listened to her because I've pretty much listened to nothing else for the last 4 months. (This super white girl still hasn't mastered the fine art of rapping along, however that doesn't stop me from trying...)  The music was amazing!  I know it took Lin Manuel Miranda 6 years to write this masterpiece, but I'm still blown away by his ability to create this show and this music and nail every one of the songs - there's not one that isn't perfect for its moment in the show. 

So that brings us to yesterday - THE day that I'd been waiting for.  By now everyone has left - there are a few originals - but for the most part the cast looks very different than it did from last year.  I've been really worried about that. My Christopher Jackson was still going to be there (Love him!) and Javier Munoz (who BTWs, is very much the sexy Hamilton that everyone says he is : ) was Lin's understudy so I was super excited to see him as well. But would it still hold up without the original cast that I'd fallen in love with via iTunes for the last 4 months?

The short answer to that question - YES, YES, YES!!!

I'm not sure what to say that hasn't been already said, but in those 3 hours I was completely blown away.  The cast was unbelievable.  The choreography and dancing was completely new and innovative and just plain cool.  And the show itself was just downright gorgeous.  I don't think I have enough adjectives in my repertoire to explain to you just how good this show is.  
About half way through, I realized the fact that the original cast wasn't there anymore, didn't really matter.  Don't get me wrong - I would have loved to have seen Lin, and Leslie and Phillippa and Renee and Daveed.  But the cast I saw was just remarkable.  The producers completely understand the roles and have cast absolutely outstanding artists in place of the original cast and these artists have the same ability to hold the audience in their hands. I think that's why the show will do so well in a touring environment - there are some seriously talented people around, and they will knock'em dead.

My absolute favorite parts:

~ The 2 lazy susans on the stage that allow the actors to rotate around each other.  Amazing!

~ Christopher Jackson - I can't help it, I know it's about Hamilton but George Washington is my favorite!

~ Rory O'Malley is killing it as King George.  I read that he was amazing in the part, but I couldn't understand how he could be so phemomenal in just 3 songs.  I will gladly say that he was.  He added so much to those 3 songs and was the absolute perfect comic relief. 

~ Yorktown (The World turned Upside Down) - My favorite song and seeing it live gave me goosebumps.  I loved that the audience gave the cast the biggest ovation after this one song.  The imagery of the World turning Upside Down is beautiful!

As I said on Twitter last night - I'm super sad that it's over, but I'm oh so happy that it happened.  And I'm certain, as soon as getting tickets again is humanly possible, I'll be there, first in line at Ticketmaster.  Also the touring cast is coming to DC in 2018, so at least there's that...

Thanks Hamilton!  You held up and surpassed every single expectation I had!

Hamilton Day

This photo pretty much sums up how we felt before, during and after seeing Hamilton.  So many feelings.  So many thoughts.  So much to say - tomorrow.  Because after a 3 hours bus ride with no AC, even a girl hopped up on Good-Hamilton-Mojo needs a shower and her bed!

Friday Five

1. Love, Love, Love Cigna's new ad! So cute!

               

2. Is it too early to start asking for Christmas gifts?  Because if it isn't, this Tardis watch is so totally on my list.  

3. A pet peeve of mine is when people say that a specific breed of dog - like Pit Bulls or Rotweillers - are evil or dangerous.  Like every single one of these dogs are just ticking time bombs waiting to go off.  It's ridiculous.  And these adorable photos prove it!

4. As I write this, I'm sitting here watching Stand Up To Cancer.  What an incredible movement for an umbelievably good cause.  Science has done so much and by raising funds for to let these researchers work, is so very, very needed.  We can be the ones to end this horrible disease if we can just get a little more involved with the movement.

5. I'm a huge fan of the fact that in 17 hours I'll FINALLY be seeing Hamilton!  So darn excited!!!!!

No More Scary

There's a fabulous show on some channel called All About Trailers.  It is exactly what it says it is - a few hours each week with nothing but movie trailers.  You see, I'm one of those crazy people who actually likes going to the movies and sitting through 20 minutes of upcoming movie trailers before the real show actually starts.  Based on some of the movies I've seen recently, the trailers are the best part of the evening.

Lately, while I've been watching All About Trailers, I've noticed something.  Today's episode featured about 12 trailers in the time that I was watching it.  In those 12 trailers about 6 of them were horror movies.  That seems to be the majority of all movies these days - blood, guts, gore and horror.  And my question for the movie makers of America is why?

Why do we need so many scary movies that are basically the same scary premise, over and over again?  I'm a big old scaredy-cat so I hate even watching the trailers.  You can imagine how much this ruins my All About Trailers viewing. Let's just say there's a lot of eye covering.  

Then there's the subject of money.  Why is all this money being spent on scaring people?  I know lots of people like them, but they can't be all that profitable.  I'm almost positive that lovely Rom-Coms or bio-pics about wonderfully interesting people or just really good mysteries have got to make more money than crappy scare-fests.  At least, I have to hope they do.  Where's the next great "Love, Actually" or the next "Lord of the Rings" series?  That's what I'm anxiously awaiting, if only to be able to watch All About Trailers again without covering my eyes.

Afterall, the world is scary enough as it is - what with the possibility of President Trump and all - why do we need to pay to be terrified?  We should be scared enough as it is!

Winner Wednesday

I did exactly two marvelous things this Wednesday.  First, I had a brainstorm earlier in the afternoon to kick up my steak a bit by making green chile mayo and making steak sandwiches with that - with frizzled onions as a side.  It was fabulous and actually the first dinner I've made in a while that I actually liked!  Win number one.

And I made these

This is the very first Christmas gift that I've started and finished for 2016.  Two friends of mine went on a cool Road Trip and these will be their gifts - photos of all their awesome adventures that they don't know I have since I knicked them off Facebook.  Can't wait to give them out!  Win number 2.

I can now officially head off to bed much happier than I woke up - Hump days are hard... : )

Trivia Tuesday

~ It would seem that if you let the cat out of the bag to the friends you've known for years and years that you have a slight phobia of feet.  They will torture you the entire evening by trying to put their dirty, sweaty, disgusting feet on your clean and non-disgusting legs.  They will also attempt to determine just how bad the phobia is by asking a variety of what if questions.  All I can say is - feet are gross!

~ I spent the day thinking of the delicious french toast I would be having this weekend in NYC so it was only fitting that the very first question was about french toast.

~ When the secret clue of the week is Monks you sort of assume the answer will be of the religious kind.  Nope, in this instance - which actually worked in our favor - the question was about Adrian Monk, the OCD detective on the show Monk.  TV is so much easier than obscure religious priests...

~ Most people have a favorite M&M color.  I on the other hand don't understand why they do.  They all taste the same.  Why do we care what color they are? However, if you care - like my friend Jen who boycotted the blue M&M's for a while - Tan was fazed out in 1998 to make room for blue.

~ 3 Gay Guys and 3 Straight Girls managed to get 3 correct out of 6 in a question about Nascar drivers, so there's that.

~ Everyone at our table uses a lyric from the song Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani when we're spelling out the word "Bananas"

~ I am a food snob because I've never eaten a twinkie before.  I feel like I'm ok with being a snob in this instance. 

~ The band Bad Company thought that The Presidents of the United States of America stole "guitar riffs" from their song "Feel like Making Love" for use in "Peaches." As much as I sing them both, I just don't hear it.  Though I'm pretty sure Feel Like Making Love will be stuck in my head for the next 2 weeks...

~ Off weeks - aka weeks that don't count toward the season score - are just so much easier than on-weeks.  How else do you explain the fact that we broke 100 and managed to stay in 3rd place even without knowing the last answer?

Hello Labor Day, Goodbye Summer

Today is the unofficial official last day of summer, and I'm so not ready for it to end!  I love the weather.  I love the sun.  I love the fun days and nights full of fabulous outdoor activities. Most of all, I love not being cold 24/7.  

This summer has been wonderful.  I've gone to the beach, New York multiple times, and the Eastern Shore.  I've seen loads of shows, and an awesome balloon lift.  I've taken tons of photos and eaten lots of yummy food.  And I'm now counting down the days until June 1 2017 when I can have just as much fun again.

Happy Labor Day!

Facebook & Religion - Not a Great Pair

Sometimes I just love what I find on Facebook.  It's often the only way I find something fun to blog about. It was a fairly quiet day in my neck of the woods with not much interesting to discuss - unless you count errands, shopping, and lovely weather super exciting. Then all of a sudden, a Catholic Register story pops up in my feed and I've got a great story to write (in my opinion anyway : ) 

As someone who went to Catholic school, I have lots of friends on Facebook who fall into the "Super" Catholic boat.  They like to post a lot about faith and the church.  That's really not me but more power to them.  However, today's postings were just slightly more over the top than most. The Catholic Register posted an article asking St. Teresa of Calcutta - after her canonization this morning - to pray for "the conversion and complete healing of the great physicist Stephen Hawking."

While this is a lovely sentiment - after all this man has done for the universe, I would agree that he deserves to be healed, here's where I lose the thread.  What does Stephen Hawking have to do with St. Teresa of Calcutta?  Why hasn't the Catholic Register been praying for him before today?  Did they have to wait until St. Teresa was canonized to ask for his healing?  

And here's where I really lose it - the comments section.  Isn't it always the comments section?  In one comment, a good Catholic that follows the Catholic Register, disagreed with the healing of Stephen Hawking because he's an atheist.  Just because he doesn't believe the same thing as they do apparently means he's doomed.  In another, the user decides that Stephen should be healed and completely transformed from an atheist to someone who completely believes in God.  And in the last - my most favorite of the set - the user wants him healed ironically. It would seem since he's a man of science that can't be cured by science, wouldn't it be hilarious if he were healed by faith instead?  Huh?  Ironic healing?  I'm pretty sure St. Teresa of Calcutta didn't work her entire life for the people to have people ironically healing people in her name.  She'd be ashamed!

I'm sure she's in heaven wondering why can't people just send good wishes to everyone, without all the hemming and hawing and wanting to change them?  She did this all her life, and we can definitely too...

Off the Wagon

I started out this year in a clean-sweeping sort of mood.  I wanted to clear out some of the books I didn't think I'd read, rid myself of clothes I never wear and focus on less is more.  Last month, I gathered up a whole bag of books and took them to work for a free sale.  They went in a few days and I felt great.  I had a small stack of books I needed to make it through and room on my shelf for when new books came out I'd want to read.

Until today that is...Today I went to the Green Valley Book Fair again and again I fell off the wagon.  Fifty-Three dollars later I walked out with lots of books and little will-power.

Who really needs space for things other than books anyway?

Friday Five

1. I'm officially in love with this dog.  He has the cutest face and seems like the sweetest! After seeing these pictures, I'm not sure how anyone can say that ALL pitbulls are dangerous.

2. No matter how many people say that Phil Mickelson is all washed up, he always comes back and surprises everyone.  And in this case he doesn't hold back from taking his jabs at the critics : )

3. I'm a sucker for creative ways to raise money for a great cause.  This is one of those creative ways.  Pasta as a way to help those hurt in the earthquake in Italy?  So perfect! 

4. I'm still a huge fan of In a Creative Bubble for all my scrapbooking needs, however I found another designer this week that almost matches her designs - One Little Bird.  Such cute stuff at such great prices!  I love this whole digital scrapbooking revolution - it's just so much cheaper than buying stuff in stores.

5. This means it's super close to Series 4, right?!  Woohoo!

#Sherlock Season 4 -- new image! pic.twitter.com/LurLKUurNZ

— Michael Ausiello (@MichaelAusiello) August 31, 2016

Be Nice!

I watched a video today about an actor that was accepting an award at his college and he was asked what advice would he give to the graduating class.  He said "Show up on time, learn your lines and be nice." I cannot agree with this advice any more than I do.  The whole concept of Be Nice is much needed right now.  In a world where even the Presidential candidates are being mean and unkind to each other pretty much every single day, niceness seems to be a novel concept.

But it's the very first thing I notice in any situation.  Was that person a jerk or not?  If they were a jerk, they're written off.  If they were nice, I'll follow them to the ends of the earth. I would much rather a person act like a human being than anything else. It's my favorite thing!  If you can be kind in the face of unkindness, you are an amazing person. I would go so far as saying I even severely judge people who don't play by that rule.  I've sworn off actors and actresses, sportsman and ordinary people that showed that they're cocky, unkind, full of anger or hate or just plain mean.  There are quite a few that are on my list of not liked.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, what's even the point of spending your life in a constant state of "I'm mad at the world?"  It doesn't make life any easier.  And by you being mean to me, it makes my life unhappier.  How's that make you feel any better?  Who desires to make someone's life crummier?  Maybe if we all tried to make everyone's else life better or happier or nicer, our lives would turn out a bit better or happier or nicer.  Ever think of that, meanies?

And if you can't be "nice", at the very least venture to be not a jerk.  There are way too many of them already in the world.  We definitely don't need any more especially seeing as the King of the Jerks may (Oh how I hope this isn't true!) soon be our leader...