Monday-6:30pm

Didn't get much sleep--just been washing clothes today. Feeling better and was sketching yesterday while it rained. Warm today. Been puttering about most all day and now just want to sit and watch some TV and go to bed early. A quiet day. Hope I didn't overdo it--doesn't take much when I am on the borderline. It is so hard to be good--hehe! :)

Saturday-12:15pm

I moved the roses onto the bookcase to keep them safe from Karma.

The roses were safe--but for some unknown reason, Miss Gracie snuck over and chewed up the Mother's Day card!

Gracie hardly ever has hopped over to the top of the bookcase--maybe three times in the over two years we've lived here? The card must have been the temptation. She is very into chewing up her newspapers and kind of "nesting" lately. Little stinker! Chuckle! Boy! If it isn't one critter it's the next I have to keep an eye on--hehe!

We had a really wild lightning storm last night!! The sky was blinking off and on like spastic Christmas tree lights! There were tornado sightings reported west of here. Some places had hail, too. The thunderstorm was really cool to watch from my third floor apartment. I love watching storms, actually. :)

Quiet dark day so far today. Too wet to go sit on the porch to read--and it looks like more rain is coming. Very good for the frogs and toads out in the field across the way--all the big puddles are even bigger--and they sing their praises. :)

May you all be blessed with a good day!

Friday-3pm

Here's the book I drew from back when I was 11 years old in 1962. Does anybody else remember his drawing show?

I can remember waiting for his show to come on, but now I can't remember what days it was on or when. This was what started me drawing all the time, though, back then. I have kept the book all these years. The pages are yellowed, but I still remember how a whole new world opened up to me within the pages of this book. :)

I slept three nights in a row! I am definitely on the mend now. Hope to be back to my normal soon! :)

Thursday-4pm

I finally was able to sleep two nights in a row!! Hopefully on the upswing now. Dagan stopped by unexpectedly on Monday and was nice enough to take out the garbage I had sitting here all tied up and ready to go for three days. Just hadn't felt up to hauling it out--hadn't felt up to doing much of anything.

I took this picture a while ago. This was my first sketch, I guess. Done from a booklet by Jon Gnagy called Learn To Draw. He was the first television artist I remember. I begged my parents to buy this book for me. Tells the basics about shape, perspective, shadows, and shading--and then has step-by-step pictures for you to follow. Yes--I still have it. I was 11 years old when I drew this and my dad framed it for me (this is a new frame, tho--the old brown wood one started to come apart). I never forgot that Dad said he liked it and surprised me and had framed it. :)

I was getting restless basically doing nothing but read and watch TV--thought of something I could do sitting in my chair and still be good. I have a large button collection--my own from back in the days when I sewed Dagan a lot of his clothes, Grandma Ring's collection, some I bought up when Munsingwear was going out of business in Minneapolis, and I think maybe some from my mom. I saw in a magazine how you could sort the buttons by tying them together (I am using crochet thread). I had sorted them many years ago and had them in cheap fold-over sandwich bags (so you had to be careful they didn't fall out because the bags weren't closed) and it was impossible to find anything in the box. So, I dumped the bags into the plastic containers we just bought (that were still empty) and I have been slowly threading the matching buttons together. I rub beeswax on the end of the thread to keep it pointed and thin. Gives me something to do while I watch TV.

I also did my first attempt at drawing in my chair on my lap desk. I have always had to be seated at a table to draw. I was afraid my perspective would be off even more than usual--and it kind of was--note the thin violin--hehe! Anyways, I finished another page spread. :)

Well, I am not moving quickly and the timer is about to go off and I haven't finished checking my emails! So--got to go.... :) Another nice day--not too hot! Been a porch reading day!!

Monday-3pm

This is Karma's latest little quirk. Since I moved the furniture around in the living room, I wake up and find that she has occasionally pushed the lap desk out from beside the chair. She is used to spying from beside the chair--her hiding place to pounce from--as I tease her with her pole/string toys. Apparently she doesn't think I left her enough room. No matter which side I tuck the laptop, she has tried to push it out of her way. Silly girl!

Was 88 degrees yesterday--very warm in here by evening. Didn't want to close it up and put the AC on this early in the spring. Wow! I hope this is not an indication of how warm the summer is going to be! Only 74 degrees so far today, so it shouldn't be quite as bad tonight. :) Short and sweet today....

Mother's Day-Sunday-11:30am

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! I got roses from Dagan and Leah yesterday. I was surprised. Even though they have been getting me roses for the past few years--it always feels like a shocking one-time thing and I don't expect it to be repeated, I guess. It's Leah. She's the one who remembers me. :) Dagan at least remembers which month my birthday is if he is asked--chuckle! We never made a big deal over birthdays and such. Dagan quit remembering Mother's Day when he no longer had a grade school teacher having the kids make something--hehe! He has shocked me a couple of times since then and actually remembered Mother's Day--on his own before he got married, I mean--but I know he loves me. :)

Karma had her nose in the bouquet right off the bat, of course. I found out when she was a kitten a couple of years ago that she loves baby's breath. Woke up the next day and Karma had pulled as many of them as she could out of the vase and eaten them--stems and all! And then she had grazed around the bouquet and chewed off all the little white flowers she could reach. It was amazing she didn't tip the vase over! So the flowers went up on top of the bookcase--hehe!

This year Leah had a handmade card in with the roses. She had gone to the florist's shop, picked out the purple vase, and even did the arrangement herself! That Leah! She touches my heart in places I didn't know I had!

Well, confession time. For the past couple of months I have not been using my timer and limiting myself to an hour or less for activities--like being on the computer, especially. I have been trying to think positive and just believe that I am getting better--and figured that my body would catch up with my mind. And I am/was better than I had been--even a better trip to Minneapolis than I have had since the fibro got really bad...

Anyways, I have been trying to just ignore the pain and continue to do more and repeatedly push myself--for around two months or more. But ignoring it is not really physically possible any longer. I feel a little like I did when I was in school--not good. The pain level has risen 24/7 and I am having a lot more trouble sleeping because of it and that creates a bad cycle. Misery level--just plain too high. So, I am back to using the timer and back to my 3-4 hours total a day--starting today.

I have just missed being able to do what I want for as long as I want--soooo badly. I love being "lost in time" doing creative things like drawing or just surfing the net and reading posts or even playing solitare on the computer. It was so simple when I was healthy.....*sigh*....

I still believe I will improve. I just have to take it much slower than I have been. My enthusiasm and optimism kind of backfired on me and has put me out of commisson for a while here. It may take me a few weeks to get back to where I was, so if I am not answering emails as quickly--that is why. And I might not be blogging every day. All my own fault. I joyfully did this to myself--hehe! I promise I will be good and use the timer again. (Right now it is not even an issue--can't last an hour--hehe!)

From a cock-eyed optimist in Fargo....

Saturday-1:30pm

The bible organizer case came yesterday from Christianbook.com. I can see why it was only $19.99 for a leather case--had a lot of spots and also some glue or something in a few places that I had to try to scrub the most of it off. It will work fine for keeping all my sketching stuff together.

This is the front--has a zipper pouch that I can keep pencils and erasers in.

You flip it open from the front and it is the perfect size for a large Moleskine--could fit two or possibly even three.

The back side flips open...

...and there are compartments for pens and such. Can slide a 5 by 7 inch pad (small legal pad size) into the far right. I am actually using the organizer to store all my sketching stuff at home all the time so that Miss Karma doesn't chew the elastic band or the bookmark on my sketchbooks!

Late in the day the magazine holders arrived.

Of course, it didn't take Karma very long to make a racket hiding in the paper in the box.

I reorgainzed the magazines! Actually have some room to spare for future magazines--like Paper Creations, Card Maker, etc.

I was drawing another two EDM challenges last night and got one page done. Was actually sketching while I was watching a mini-series from PBS called North And South:

When her father uproots his family from their serene rural burg for an industrial mill town, parson's daughter Margaret Hale (Daniela Denby-Ashe) struggles to adapt to her harsh new surroundings in this BBC series based on Elizabeth Gaskell's novel. As her mother's health fails, Margaret throws herself into the fight for workers' rights and clashes with mill owner John Thornton (Richard Armitage). Sinead Cusack and Tim Pigott-Smith co-star.

It was made in 2004 and is another period piece like the Jane Austin movies. I really enjoyed it.

The rain passed through. Didn't see the weather report. Don't know what they are predicting. Hope you are all having nice weather and will continue to have nice weather for Mother's Day tomorrow. :)

Friday-5pm

I got the cell phone cover for my Katana yesterday and I love it. Literally fits like a snap on glove! This is the front...

...this is the back. I can snap on a clip if I want to.

I don't have to remove the cover to use the side buttons or charge it. Just feel sturdier and protected now. :)

I spent most of yesterday off and on taking pictures of different things around the apartment for the EDM challenges. I seem to have an easier time copying something that is already two dimensional--chuckle! So, it is easier for me to snap a digital picture and print it off. That way, too, I can draw the challenges anywhere, any time because I have the pictures with me.

Then I spent some time snooping around online to find pictures of things I don't have in my apartment. They did suggest you could go look on Flickr.com for pictures to draw for the challenges--so I did. Was very interesting to see what strange things people post--hehe! I probably have at least 80% of the pictures I need for the 1o4 challenges I have left to do--oh my! :)

Thursday-11am

My Mother's Day present arrived yesterday! The Thermos hydration bottle on the right--which Dagan and Leah have been using for months for carrying around their water. When I saw the Sigg bottle online with the flip top I thought it would have a similar top to the hydration bottle that Dagan and Leah use.

Nope! It has this strange top that you have to press down on to get the water out...

...not a nice big spout like the hydration bottle. The Thermos bottle also has a button that pops the top off one-handed and the little lock that you see to secure the top in case the button is accidentally pushed if you are carrying it in a bag or something.

They both taste a lot better!! I didn't realize how much my water had that plastic taste until it was gone. For traveling in my bag--I will take the Thermos. Of course, it will keep the water colder for a long time also. Has an opening large enough to allow ice cubes, too.

The Sigg bottle does have another top you can buy that is a screw on plug with a hole on top for carrying on your finger, I guess. But that would be even less convenient to use I would think? I think the red bottle will stay by my bed. The Thermos bottle will be my constant companion. :)

It's a gorgeous, sunny day!

Through the EDM group I have located a Sumi-e painting group. Something else I have always wanted to learn but has been impossible to grasp (for me) with just books. Was planning on buying a DVD one day so I could actually watch somebody doing it. There is a very different way to hold the brushes--upright--and I knew that you needed to practice strokes repeatedly, etc. Well, from that group I was directed to YouTube--where they have lots of art demonstrations! And quite a few are the Chinese painting!! Makes a world of difference to actually see it done because it is nothing like any other painting I have ever seen. I have heard that it can take years to learn and gain the confidence in your brush strokes. I can certainly see why! Now I have another challenge--something else to experiment with and try to learn how to do decently. I am reading all the posts and learning a lot already about brushes and ink and paper and technique! A whole new world of painting!! :)

Well, they say learning helps keep the old brain in shape. At least maybe my brain will stay in shape--hehe!

Tuesday-12:45pm

Busy day yesterday. The Noodler's Ink and the blue Lamy pen arrived...

,,,along with the Sigg water bottle.

Dagan and Leah borrowed her mom's truck last night and brought over the little dresser...

and the maroon chair!

I thought Karma would be afraid of it. She stayed away from it until I sat in it. After that she investigated and smelled and pawed it. I think she actually likes the bouncing around! Never thought she'd like that! hehe!

I was sketching off and on yesterday and finally am able to post another spread in my Moleskine.

And in a few minutes Caroline will be here to clean, so this will be short today. My porch is drying out. No rain today! Have a good one!

Monday-2pm

I went to a couple of the new houses with Dagan and Leah yesterday. This first house (first three photos) they liked the large entryway with the living room off to the left. They probably wouldn't have the half walls, though--and Leah doesn't want carpeting--just all wood on that floor. They like the bi-level homes the best.

The second home--they like the combination of light and dark wood in the entryway. And they loved the modern kitchen. Not my cup of tea--but they love that style. :)

Then we went to Hom Furniture. The maroon chair was a floor sample, so it is a little dirty and is broken in. The wobble isn't as bad as I expected--so, if Leah can't fix it, it is okay to live with. I was more comfortable to sit in that the sage one. Had more padding on the seat so you didn't feel the metal bar so much. Decided to go ahead and get it. They ordered the additional nightstand and Dagan and I got pillows.

Now that they have the new bedroom set, Dagan doesn't need the little dresser anymore. So, they are going to bring it over here when they borrow Leah's mother's truck to pick up the furniture (probably tonight). The little dresser was made by a carpenter who was doing my sister's kitchen cabinets many years ago. Dagan was little and he made the dresser out of waterproof malmine (??-I think I have the name wrong--can't remember now) so that I could have it in the bathroom and not worry about Dagan splashing the dresser when he was playing in the bathtub. :) It is a smaller dresser. The carpenter even put wooden stops inside so that the drawers wouldn't accidently fall out on Dagan, either. I always felt that dresser was made with such care and love for Mr. Dagan--hehe! It is really heavy!! Going to put it in my bathroom here now.

Anyways, that was yesterday's jaunt! Cloudy today, but it is not raining. Not going anyplace today! :)

Sunday-1pm

We had thunderstorms rolling through all day and night, so I shut down the computer and didn't blog yesterday. The wind has been pounding and howling against the windows for over two days. Supposed to clear up pretty soon. The poor spider plant has taken a beating out on the porch, that's for sure.

The blue betta died. He'd been lying on the bottom of the bowl for a couple of weeks and struggled to get to the top to eat, so it was no surprise.

Yesterday Dagan and Leah went around looking at houses that are in the Parade of Homes again. Then they went to HOM Furniture--called me about a different chair they found that was a little more comfortable, they said. They found one the same style, but it is maroon and wobbles a bit. Was in clearance for $89.00 (vs. $149). Leah thought she could fix the wobble (our tool girl!), so I said okay.

But then they called me later and told me that decided to bring me over today, since the sale was still going on thru Sunday, to see it for myself before I decide to buy it. They said they were going to go look at more houses (last day) for a while and then come and pick me up around 2:30-3pm. I might go with for a second look at the house they liked the best for ideas over in Moorhead, so I know what they are discussing. :)

I was finally feeling better yesterday, so I didn't want to go with Dagan and Leah and set myself back again. When I go beyond my limit--it just takes days to recover and get back to my normal. I overdid it Weds and Thursday--pushed myself over my physical edge. Sometimes you don't even know you are doing it when you do it--but you pay for it later. Pretty much getting closer to normal now today.

I cleaned out the fish bowl. Watched some things I had taped this weekend--episodes of Bleak House on PBS (two more Sundays to go), the silly scratch and sniff episode of My Name Is Earl, The Office, ER, Medium, etc. Finally did some sketching last night. Just the preliminary pencil work on the second page--next I can start with the ink, then coloring of some kind, and when I am finally done I can post it. Felt good to be able to sit for a while and accomplish something. I do enjoy the drawing a lot--it's relaxing. Just was a nice weekend listen to the howling wind and be cozy and warm inside! I guess I will be out in it, tho, in a couple of hours--hehe! Hope you are all warm and safe. :)

Friday-5:45pm

Watched a couple of movies that I really enjoyed a lot!

The Pursuit of Happyness was really good! Will Smith and his son were delightful together and it was nice to see Will in something other than an action film or a comedy. I thought it was the best movie he has ever done. His son could be a truly wonderful actor--already is a natural! It was excellent and a true story of the American Dream!

Will Smith (in an Oscar-nominated role) and his real-life son Jaden star in this tearjerker about a struggling single parent determined to build a better life for himself and his child. Chris Gardner is smart and talented, but his dead-end salesman job barely pays the bills. When he and his 5-year-old son are evicted from their apartment, they face trying times as Chris takes on an unpaid internship at a stock brokerage firm with hopes of getting rich someday.

The Dinner Game is a movie (with subtitles) that grabbed your attention early on and had you laughing all the way through!

A group of French intellectuals gather each Wednesday for the dinner game, where the challenge is to bring along the most idiotic guest each can find. Pierre (Thierry Lhermitte) thinks he's found a ringer in François (Jacques Villeret), a civil servant whose passion is making architectural models out of matchsticks. But Pierre gets more than he bargained for when François becomes his houseguest -- and nursemaid!

Dagan came over after lunch and picked up the Shaklee order. Hung out for a while. Helped me to unjam my printer (first paper jam I have ever had--now I know there is a back panal that you can remove to get to the nasty crumpled paper).

Leah stopped by briefly, too, after she got off work. Had her try the earth shoes on, but she didn't like them and said they hurt her heels. I love them. Just never know, do you? She is in the process of trying to see if she can get her apartment complex to do recycling. Leah made phone calls to the recyling center and the city of Moorhead--now she has all the information to go to the office over there. Would cost them $76 a month and they'd have less trash to be picked up if everybody got used to recyling? Doesn't hurt to try, right? Leah also found out that the recycling company will do curb pick up if you buy the proper containers/large tubs--so if the complex won't do it, she might buy the tubs and do it herself.

My complex doesn't have any room for the recycling containers. They built the fence around the dumpster just large enough for the dumpster to fit in there. And being as I am in low-income housing, I doubt they'd ever spend additional funds to enclose recycling bins with a fence. But--if Leah figures something out for them, she and Dagan can pick up my stuff and add mine to theirs. Leah already picks up my mail order catalogs. Then I could recycle glass and such, too. :)

By the way--NOTE: If you go to www.USPS.com and type junk mail in the search engine, you will find a link where you can sign up to eliminate a lot of your junk mail. It only costs a dollar!

Today has been a chilly, rainy day. Not a hard rain--just a slow steady, drizzly rain. Having a very sore R&R day--overdid it--my own fault. Tomorrow will be better. :)

Thursday-4pm

How much cozier it looks with a couple of plants and a candle. Got Miss Gracie's cage back out, even if it is still a little chilly and way too windy today to actually put her out there. Soon! :)

I ordered a Sigg water bottle--refillable, good for the environment. A red one, of course. I'll just carry it with me around the house and I hope it fits into my red bag, too?

I ordered a few small things: cardboard magazine holders (have them piling up in stacks), a cell phone cover for my new phone, and (believe it or not) a bible cover! No--not for my bible. On the EDM site they mentioned how they are the perfect shape and size to carry around art supplies for sketching and watercoloring! And the one I got wasn't expensive either. Interesting! Hope it is as nice to use as they say. :)

CashWise was here and I just finished putting away groceries. Now I am going to order the Noodler's Ink for my Lamy pen for sketching and that's it for me this month. The rest goes toward the new chair! tada! Can hardly wait until that arrives!

Leah is stopping over after work to pick up their Shaklee order. She and Dagan are going to try the new Cinch Plan? They'll let me know how it works for them. Supposed to help you lose weight in a healthy way--no muscle loss and get rid of belly fat? Hope it works!

Well, it's another beautiful day--just very windy! Windy enough to rattle my apartment door off and on all day. Maybe the days just seem extra beautiful to me now when I can sit out on the porch and read and write letters, huh? Right now though (after I order my Noodler's Ink) I am going to go watch the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" with Will Smith and his son.... Later....

Wednesday-10:30am

Big excitement around here last night (according to Miss Karma--hehe!). I moved the patio chair and ottoman outside to the porch. Rearranged things on the porch and endtables inside. Looks so empty in the here now.

I still need to move some plants out on the porch and Miss Gracie's cage, but it is all set up so that I can go sit out there to relax and read now!!

Karma has been all wound up--chuckle!

Dagan and Leah will be over tonight for Sacred Circle. :) It got chilly last night--nippy, actually--but is supposed to be another beautiful sunny warm day today--in the 70s, I think? I am off to read on the porch. Am half way done with the second book in the Dark Tower series. Maybe I will get back to sketching today, too? Finished one page while I was waiting for Lin to arrive on Monday--need to get the other side done so I can post again...

Tuesday-4:30pm

Lin came to visit for the afternoon and I talked her ear off--hehe! She looks so good and seems so much more content these days. I am happy for her. She wants to get together with both Jennifer and I one day, as Jennifer was in our Writer's Group, too. That would be fun! (Let me know, Jennifer!)

Then Dagan came over and we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond--and discovered that the quality of all their patio furniture dropped drastically this year?? :( So Dagan suggested we go over to HOM Furniture, since he needed to make a trip over there anyways. He and Leah bought their huge, beautiful bedroom set from HOM recently and they want another nightstand for the other side of the bed--and that is where he bought the cool pillow. He suggested I look for a cheap chair--which I didn't expect to find actually. We wandered and snooped around--found out they have a sale going on this weekend--Dagan checked out the availability of the nightstand and the pillows--no problem--can go back this weekend and save some more money. And we found a strange little chair on sale for $149.00--found a picture of it on their website in tan. I like the sage green that was in the store better.

It swivels and glides and rocks--like you are floating about when you sit in it. The ottoman moves about also. (Karma may hate this chair--hehe!) There's a lever and you can lean back like you're in a lounger and stop it in whatever position you want--Dagan figured that out. The only thing that could be bothersome is the bar that goes across the front of the chair seat under the cushion--it presses on the back of your legs a little. But I switch chairs around a lot--so I could just move. And there may be a way to slip an additional piece of foam under there too--as the seat is just slipped over the bar. I think I am going to go for it. Dagan said I could just pay them back the rest. I had planned on $100 maximum for a chair, but this is such a good deal and is a real living room chair, too--not the patio furniture I am using right now that actually belongs on the porch.

Then Leah met us over here at my place in the parking lot and the three of us went snooping through houses at the Parade of Homes from 6:30-8:30pm. Many of them! I finally couldn't do anymore stairs (knees and hips were giving me trouble)--I sat in the car for the last one--and snapped a picture.

There were many expensive houses on the tour--fun to snoop. I think this one was $339,000. Dagan and Leah were just looking and getting ideas about floor plans and other details. We were in a house before this one that had the most beautiful cupboards!! We all loved them--called a "port" or a wine stain. Had awesome woodwork throughout that home. Dagan and Leah are also looking for things they think they could finish themselves in a building process or a remodel, you know. Save some money.

I crashed last night for 11 hours. Am not getting much of anything accomplished today--hobbling about--but it was lots of fun. Got to visit with somebody I haven't seen since my "college days"-hehe! Found a decent chair for my apartment and got to spend the evening with Dagan and Leah as they planned and dreamed. :)

Monday-noon

A bit of drizzle this morning. I am expecting Lin about 1pm and thought I'd do a quick hello. Dagan is coming over after work. We're going over to Bed, Bath and Beyond to look at what they have for patio furniture for this year. I want to see if there's something I like and figure out if I can afford a chair in May. The nicer weather is here! Want to get the patio cleaned up and arranged for the summer.

Dagan, Leah, and I might all go wandering and snooping at the Parade of Homes tonight, too. They are open from 6:30-8:30pm during the week and thru next weekend. We're going to decide later.

I took the garbage out with my green cart this morning. The garbage truck had just been there. People don't put their garbage in sealed up bags and stuff fell all over the ground this time. I saw the garbage man out throwing stuff back in the dumpster and doing a second emptying. What a mess!

Anyways, I am going to go make some coffee....later....

Sunday-2pm

Dagan and Leah looked at a few houses yesterday--none of which was "the one". They ended up going through a Parade of Homes exhibit and found out about a smaller contractor who builds homes for a little less than average. They plan to go and look at some of his work next weekend. If he does good work--they could have the floorplan like they want it and make many other decisions--could be the answer for them, who knows?

I forgot to mention that a lady who was in our writers group back when I was in college at MSUM, Lin, called me last Thursday, I believe. Professor Vinz is retiring this year and they were having a goodbye event for him--she wanted to know if I wanted to go later that night. I wasn't having a good week last week and go couldn't that day, but I asked her over to visit tomorrow afternoon. Haven't seen her for years! She's somewhere around my age--can't recall exactly--energetic and funny and bold! Be nice to catch up and find out what she has been up to since she graduated.

I have been watching some Netflix movies the past few days---The Queen:

After Princess Diana's shocking death, Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren, in an Oscar-winning role) and Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) engage in intimate talks as Britain demands the princess be memorialized in a manner beyond standard protocol. This Oscar-nominated drama for Best Picture goes behind the scenes as the queen and prime minister try to manage Diana's death on a personal level while also dealing with a public calling for royal treatment for their beloved princess.

I thought it was very interesting and everybody did a great job--not trying to do obvious imitations of all these living people. It gave the royal family's position so that you understood more where they were coming from when they didn't officially respond right away to Diana's death--with protocol and so on. I could probably make some enemies here, but I wasn't a big Diana fan. I was in the beginning, I suppose--not that I paid a lot of attention, but you couldn't miss the fairy tale coverage of their life. And at first I felt sorry for her--being betrayed and all--but she married into royalty and it really shouldn't have been such a surprise. She hardly knew him--it was more or less an "arranged" marriage--she knew she was there to breed and provide heirs and play her role--come on! She wasn't that stupid--she knew what was expected of her. She loved having the position and she always played carefully into the press--like she should have--until the divorce.

Honestly, what altered my personal opinion of her was that long interview she gave when she was getting divorced--one on one interview--there was something in her face and her eyes. She was not the innocnent that she liked to portray to the public. I thought she was totally manipulating the press and saw this gleam in her eye and tiny smirk escape every now and then--and I felt she was lying and exaggerating specifically for public sympathy. That was my gut level response to her. I had never seen her close up for any length of time, so I had not had an opportunity to really watch her before. I know that is an unpopular belief--but after seeing her up close and personal--I wasn't effected much by her death and all the hoopla. I am glad she did some good in her life--charity work, etc. But I think she may have done it more out of boredom, a need to have something of her own, and to look good to the press--to keep up her own innocent princess identity. She fell in love with her own image and her own press, I think. I think she was a very troubled girl who was a sucker for men of power and position. She figured she had it made when she produced two male heirs, I think. Figured she had worked at maintaining being popular enough with the public that she figured she could go off and do her own thing and divorce (with the public's blessing and sympathy) and be the (future) King and a spare's beloved and revered mother--forever. And she was probably a good mother. She made her bed, but didn't want to lie in it. She knew she was popluar with the press, and she used the divorce as a public battle that she planned to win. Anyways---don't bother to write and defend her to me--I already know it is an unpopular viewpoint--hehe! I can understand her, but I just don't feel as much pity for her as the rest of the world seems to. (Same with Anna Nicole, for that matter. Although Anna did not have quite the global support as Diana did. What has happened to being responsible for your own actions and decisions?)

Anyways, I also watched The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn:

Small-town farmer Noah Dearborn (Sidney Poitier) lives an uncomplicated existence till shady developer Christian Nelson (George Newbern) tries to usurp his family's land. Nelson will do anything to take Noah's property, including hiring a shrink (Mary-Louise Parker) to have him declared insane. What Nelson doesn't anticipate is Noah forming an unbreakable bond with the doctor that proves stronger than anything the land baron can dish out.

This was such a good little feel-good movie--like a Hallmark movie--maybe it was? Sidney Poitier was excellent, as usual.

Marie Antoinette:

Sofia Coppola directs this stylized portrait of Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst), the naive Austrian princess who married Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman) to become queen of France at age 19. The film explores the young queen's luxurious yet terribly confining lifestyle and illustrates how Marie Antoinette's youthful indiscretion and frivolity were not only her release, but ultimately, her very undoing. A Golden Palm nominee at Cannes, the film also took Oscar honors for costume design.

Was like a personal glimpse into the lifestyle and home life--done very well. The only thing that really bothered me was the occasional modern music. Young director. Definitely eye candy--the costumes and decor are amazing! You felt like you understood Marie more and that maybe she got a bad rap because her lifestyle was all she knew and she was cut off from the normal society. Maybe the first person to be the victim of a huge publicity smear campaign??

And then I watched Grey Gardens:

Documentary pioneers the Maysles brothers (Gimme Shelter) capture poignant moments in the lives of Edith Bouvier Beale (Big Edie) and her middle-aged daughter, Little Edie -- relatives of Jackie O -- at their decaying estate, Grey Gardens. The ladies shut out their bleak present by recalling richer times and lost loves, and while Little Edie confides that she'd like to leave, the camera captures a co-dependency destined to continue.

This was a fascinating documentary! I had no idea that Jackie Kennedy Onassis had these realtives living in squalor in an old house that was literally falling apart out in the Hamptons. Jackie actually had to go out there and help clean it up once and legally make enough repairs to let them remain living there. But I had the impression that this documentary took place after that--and the house and grounds were in terrible shape. Cats pooping anywhere and racoons destroying the walls and attic--the daughter was feeding them!! The relationship between this mother and daughter was the focus of the film. They had this love-hate bond that had been established over the years. The mother (Jackie's aunt, I think she was) wanted the daughter to be dependent on her and help her--and yet she managed to insult her frequently. The daughter (who was in her 50s) felt she had wasted her life (her mother kind of pushed her into remaining single) but loved her mother and couldn't leave her--and hated her for it sometimes--and used her as an excuse for not having a life, too. There was a constant conversation, comfortable bickering, and occasional outbursts. Was hypnotic in a strange way--mesmerizing--but sad.

As long as I am probably irritating people today---something in the news lately--Richard Gere mauling Shilpa Shetty in India. I wish he'd get the 30 days in prison! I have always been confused by this man--he is so hypocritical. He claims to be a follower of the Dali Lama and the Bhuddist prinicples--yet he consistently picks movies where he plays horrible human beings and/or are very violent in nature. He insulted Cindy Crawford's intelligence, vocabulary, and claimed to be bored with her after they were married. Well, that says more about him than her! Gere has made many, many trips to India--and yet he has no respect for or understanding of their culture. This was made blatantly obvious by his pawing and smooching all over Shilpa. If this is something that isn't done there--if anybody should know this it would be a man who supposedly has such love and respect for the culture and for other people's religions and for other people's dignity! ??? I saw a snippet of him on some talk show afterwards--totally unapologetic, laughing about it, and poo-pooing it as insignificant to him. He didn't even understand the backlash or make any attempt to. Typical ugly American--no remorse whatsoever. No comprehension or empathy in the real world for where other people are coming from--just a lot of concepts and ideals in their heads. No wonder a lot of people don't like us in other countries....

I don't usually "rant" on my blog. But I will on occasion. If you don't like it--skim.....ROFL!!!

Saturday-2pm

Giving up Cable TV has now provided me with being able to afford apartment insurance and a cell phone on Dagan and Leah's family plan!

The cell phone came with an adapter so that I can use my headphones I already had for the land line phone. Now I have to get used to this new contraption. One nice thing is that it will hang up automatically when you close it and picks up automatically when you open it. Easier for me to figure out--hehe! Now I have to learn how to program in telephone numbers and all the rest. I have finally entered into the mysterious world of cell phones. Didn't think I ever would. But now I can call friends and family long distance after seven pm and on the weekends! (You are all forewarned--chuckle!)

The best laid plans.....my body didn't want to cooperate all that much the rest of the week (taking more detox supplements). I didn't go with Dagan and Leah looking at houses this afternoon. Yesterday Dagan and I had to wait to leave until later in the afternoon. I never made it back to the mall this week, but I did get quite a bit of walking in, anyways--so that was good. Got my new hippie earth shoes! I did make it to the mall once, anyways--and managed to finally get to the insurance office and to Sprint this week--so it was a good week on the whole, I guess.

The weather has been beautiful the past few days--in the 70s and reaching for 80! Dagan and I brought in my two tall fans from the garage yesterday, too. Going to need them pretty soon. Have to try to make it over to Bed, Bath and Beyond soon to see what they have for outdoor chairs for the summer. I am going to have to decide if I can afford it soon! (Either that or we'll have to haul the uncomfortable gold lounger back in again from the garage.) It is time to be sitting out on the porch again! In fact, I am going to go sit out there and read for a while. Have a good one! :)

Friday-11:15am

They finally arrived! In the right size! And they were worth waiting for! My new "hippie" earth shoes--and they are vegan, too.

As you can see, they are lower in the heel than they are in the toes.

They tell you on the tag: "We recommend moderate wear at first to allow your body to adjust to this more natural walking experience." I wore them around the house yesterday until my calves hurt. Felt a little strange at first--like you are tipping or something--but the shoes are so comfortable for me! I have wide feet and they seem to fit right into the shoe without being cramped at all. There's a real strong arch inside of the shoes--but I think it helps to stretch out those muscles on the bottom of my foot that help with the plantar fasciitis pain? We'll see, eh? Anyways, I am in love! If these work out as well as I think they will, I will probably have to get some tennis shoes next!

I am going to wear them bopping around with Dagan this afternoon. So, got to finish getting ready....