Busted!

In my 20+ years of driving I've never gotten a traffic ticket. (parking tickets are another story, I've gotten plenty of those and deserved every one)  I've been stopped by the police, I've just never been cited.  You can chalk that up to the insignificance of my infractions, or to my amazing powers of persuasion.  Either way, no tickets for me.  Until today.

Dane and I were driving around in an unfamiliar town, we were kind of lost, I crossed a double yellow line, then there were sirens and flashing lights.  I wasn't trying to do something illegal and get away with it, I had legitimately made a mistake and done something boneheaded.  I was fairly certain I was going to be able to explain my situation and be on my way, then I saw a female officer get out of the squad car.  I knew I wouldn't be talking my way out of this one.  The officer was very nice, I deserved the ticket, but thus ends over 20 years of ticketless-ness.

The Taming of Elizabeth Taylor

Back in the long, long, ago time of the 1970's my Dad brought home a magical machine that played movies.  It was called a Betamax, and we were the first people in town to have this wondrous new technology.  Yeah, we were cool.  My Dad is a lover of gadgetry and old movies, it was a dream come true for him.  Since it was his toy, Dad picked out all the movies, so all we kids had access to was what he liked.  That is probably why I am well versed in classic movies, the good and the bad.  The Betamax tape that I was obsessed with was The Taming of The Shrew, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.  I couldn't have been more than 7 when I saw it for the first time and I was quite certain that it was one of the greatest movies ever made, and that Elizabeth Taylor was the most beautiful women on earth.

The Taming of The Shrew - 1967

Elizabeth Taylor died today.  Some people may only be familiar with her because of the sensational details of her private life, but she was a great actress, and to me, she will always be the most beautiful woman that has ever lived.

Bucket List of Books

As a rule, I balk at a consensus, but I found this book list Here and thought it was interesting.

  

Probably because I didn't have access to a television for most of my formative years, I have read most of these books.  My favorite book is up there, there are some that I haven't read that are now on my reading list, and there are some that I'm shocked that are included. (Twilight, The Da Vinci Code, seriously?)  How about you? Any books that you think should be there that aren't, are there some that are included that you don't agree with? Is your favorite book up there?

Party Planning

The thought of Dagny turning 16 causes me to channel Scarlett O'Hara and say, "I'll think about that tomorrow".  It's all very serious stuff; the idea of parenting a 16 year old, the fact that soon she'll be off to college, the reality that as she gets older so do I... Frankly, my dear, I just don't want to think about it right now. My plan is to procrastinate the soul searching, anxiety, and worry until after her birthday because right now I have a party to plan.  


I love throwing parties for my kids.  All the planning and organizing, it's like crack to me. I have thrown some pretty great parties for them, but all those parties have all been leading up to this one, the big one, the Sweet 16.  


The biggest rule of party planning is that the party should be about the guest of honor.  It's a party for them so it should reflect them.  Dagny isn't ostentatious, she doesn't want over-the-top, she's not about the spectacle or the expense, she just wants something simple and lovely and fun. (she's no diva, I like that about her) I can do that, but we still need a theme to work with.  I came up with a list of ideas for her to choose from, it was quite varied and creative (murder mystery, an evening in Paris, back to the 80's, red carpet, etc...) and it included one that she zeroed in on. It looks like Dagny will be having a "Sweet" 16 party, literally.  She chose a candy theme, and my mind is already reeling at all the fun possibilities. 


Now we have a theme, ("Sweet" 16) a location, (our house), a date,(May 28th) and a size, (around 50) so let the planning begin! Anyone have any good ideas?  

Dogs. Always Dogs.

In my quest for the perfect photo of Gavin and Summer I ended up taking about a million pictures of all the dogs. I think I managed to take a few that were pretty good, but wrangling willful little dogs while simultaneously trying to take their picture is hard work. To get the kind of pictures I see in my head I need a lot more practice and possibly an assistant.  I think I'm going to have to hire Dane as my official photo assistant/dog wrangler.  He'll be expensive, but worth it.  

The shots that are less than perfect are actually kind of interesting, and it's just a fact that everything looks classier in black and white. 

Letting My Geek Flag Fly

a little background -


In '07 I read a book that I thought was absolutely brilliant, I put it on my Facebook page as one of my favorite books. The next day I had a friend request from the author.  I'm used to reading books written by dead guys, a real-life living author as a virtual friend seemed like a very cool thing.  Turns out this guy is way more than a guy who wrote a great book, I started following his blog and found out that not only is he clever and funny and interesting, he worships at the alter of Joss Whedon.  Enough said, I am now a fan for life. 


His second book was just released on March 1st, I spent the last 3 days devouring it, (it's a hefty book, it took even me days to get through it) and I finished it just in time to go to his book signing in San Francisco.  He read an excerpt from the new book, did a Q&A, then graciously signed books.  He was charming throughout the evening and seemed genuinely pleased that people came to see him.  He didn't rush people through the line, he took time to speak to everyone, I had a lovely conversations with him.  When I told him I had finished the new book, he said I was the first person he had met on tour that had accomplished that and he asked what I thought of it. His question was so sincere, he said the book is so newly released he is still nervous about peoples reactions.  How many times in your life will you have the opportunity to sit next to a favorite author and discuss their book with them?  I told him what I thought of the book, we talked about my favorite part, the funniest line, and the scene that broke my heart.  By then he had spent way more time with me than he should, but as he gave me back my books he asked if he could give me a hug.  At that point I was a little bit in love with him, it seemed appropriate. 

Mr. Patrick Rothfuss

If you haven't read The Name Of The Wind and The Wise Man's Fear, trust me, you should get on that right away. Here is a review Dagny did a few years ago of the first book.