The world's funniest Inland Empire refugee, Prunella deVille has tagged me to reveal my answer to the question "If you were left alone on a deserted island, which celebrity would you choose to spend time with?"



Real celebrity as himself - Jon Stewart. Life could never be boring with Jon around, though we'd have to arrange for satellite transmission of CNN so that he would have a continuing source of topics to go off on. While Jon could definitely keep me intellectually stimulated, I am concerned about his ability to keep us in food, shelter, home brewed rum . . . in other words, the essentials. Thus, my second pick to also come along is . . .






Real celebrity as a historical figure - Robert Redford as Jeremiah Johnson. If you saw this 1972 movie with Redford before he'd spent way too much time in the sun, you know JJ is man of few words, but an excellent provider - assuming there will be buffalo and beaver on the desert island. If our island paradise is overrun with cannibals, JJ is the man to kick ass and take no prisoners.

Who would you choose???

My final book for the Southern Reading Challenge is The Old Man and The Boy by Robert Ruark. The book is a series of tales of the author’s youth in North Carolina, spent fishing and hunting with his beloved grandfather and a series of hunting dogs and local characters. As the author says: "Anybody who reads this books is bound to realize that I had a real fine time as a boy."

The Old Man is a conservationist before his time, who insists that they always leave their campground clean and trash free, and never kill more beasties than they can eat. He also teaches the boy respect for all living things, from the fish, birds and deer, to the poor folk, both black and white, in their community.

"Hunting," the Old Man said . . ."is the noblest sport yet devised by the hand of man. . . . If you hunt to eat, or hunt for sport for something fine, something that will make you proud, and make you remember every single detail of the day you found him and shot him, that is good too. But if there’s one thing I despise it’s a killer, some blood-crazy idiot that just goes around bam-bamming at everything he sees. A man who takes pleasure in death just for death’s sake is rotten somewhere inside, and you’ll find him doing things later in life that prove it."

Ruark also offers up vivid memories of the food they enjoyed . . . of cooking up a meal on an open fire, and enjoying good food after a hard day.

"You just started the coffee in the tin percolator and got the butter out of the food safe and sliced off a few rounds of bread and dug up the marmalade or the jelly. We had an iron grill that we slid into the fireplace as soon as she began to coal down into nice rosy embers, and it didn’t take a minute to lay the halves of yesterday’s bluefish or sea trout onto the grill. About the time the fish started to crumble and fall down through the grill I’d stick a skillet full of scrambled eggs over the fire, and in about two shakes dinner was served."

The book takes place in a different time, (post World War I) and is a nice reminder of a simpler time, and the wonderful lessons to be learned from someone with the patience to teach, and to pass along a life time of wisdom.

Tomorrow night, my old college friend, Paul, and I are going to see Crowded House at the Greek Theater. Both Paul and I were big fans of Crowded House, and its prior incarnation, Split Enz. Both bands played boppy, semi-alternative, music during our college days.

It's been years since I saw a show at the Greek. If memory serves me, the last time I went was with Dave - the guy who had season ticket for the Kings at the Forum that were next to mine. Dave and I would date occasionally - that is until he showed up at one game with a woman and introduced her as his fiance.

Anywhoo, before that occurred, we went to the Greek to see Lynyrd Skynyrd and Ted Nugent - and neither act was in its prime. Most of the key guys from Skynyrd were alread dead, and Ted might as well have been. I expect that there will be less rebel clothing and Confederate flags on stage for the Crowed House show . . .

I watched Jaws on TNT yesterday afternoon - damn, it's still good.

I remember the first time I saw that movie - it was in Bakersfield of all places. I was 14 and in Bakersfield with my friend Joann and her family. I'm hard pressed to think of another movie that has had such a long term effect on my behavior. Can anyone - even 32 years later - swim in deep, dark water without hearing that music and thinking about what lurks beneath you?

Other movies that I remember from my youth as being very, very scary include Psycho, the Birds, and the often overlooked, but fabulous, Wait Until Dark, starring Audrey Hepburn.

More recently, I thought the Blair Witch Project was scary, (though I wanted to like it and be scared), as was the Others, which I was watching one night, at home, alone . . .

What movies have sent chills down your spine?

Happy Saturday! It's overcast and cool so far today, and I took advantage of that to ride the JB Fletcher down to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands for a hike. Y'all are spared a lot of photos of egrets today, because my camera batteries died a few minutes into the hike. But I did manage to snap a few photos . . .

A pretty yellow bird that I will try to identify from my birdwatching books.

When I walked down a different path than usual, I found this stone plaque and the tree planted in memory of the mentioned gentleman. I would love to have someone do something similar for me after I am gone . . . a living tree planted in your honor is much better than just having a headstone in a graveyard in my humble opinion.

Back at home . . .all of the birdseed that is spilled from the feeder has resulted in some interesting foliage on my patio, including this corn stalk growing out from among my petunias,

but the hibiscus

and peruvian lilies

are doing well.

Not sure what the rest of the day will bring, but I look forward to finding out!

As I mentioned earlier this week, I am working on my new "eat less, exercise more" program. And let me tell you, Nanners and Noodles are so not on board with this lifestyle change.

First of all, both wholeheartedly subscribe to the idea that only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun. The chances of getting either to walk more than a few blocks between the morning chill and dusk are slim at best. If Hanna judges it to be too warm out, she simply keeps finding nice, cool, shady spots to lie down and rest. One really has no option but to join her under the tree . . .

Second, neither is a big fan of walking for walking's sake. They like checking stuff out, sniffing, peeing and greeting their friends and fans, but neither sees the need to put in alot of miles. We have (some of us begrudgingly), increased our morning walk to 3 miles. I hope to keep adding a bit more distance, a little at a time, but I think we all know who's going to win that war of wills . . .

My horoscope for today is: Make some travel plans. It's time for you to let your wanderlust out to play!

This is perfect! I am going on my walking tour of the Berkshires from October 14 to October 21. The wanderlust part is my ongoing attempts to arrange to spend a few days in NYC the week before. I was excited and then disappointed when yesterday, while checking out the current menu of Broadway shows, I discovered that the fabulous David Hyde Pierce is currently starring in Curtains! And will be on vacation from October 8 -14. Hmmm, is Cats still playing?

Living in Mayberry by the Sea, we don't have the luxury of home mail delivery. Mail is delivered to our local post office, where the residents all have po boxes. It actually is kind of cool - the post office becomes a bit of a meeting place, everyone knows the postal workers, and local announcements for lost dogs and upcoming community events are posted there.

Because I hate to go to the mall, I do most of my shopping online, and consequently, am always at the counter to pick up the package that inevitably won't fit into my box. Today, I had 3 packages to pick up:

1. First up, I received a tin of wonderful pecans (including pralines!) from Maggie at Maggie Reads. I have been participating in Maggie's Southern Reading Challenge, and she has been kind enough to hold a weekly drawing for some yummy Southern pecans. I was lucky enough to win, and can only add, thanks, Maggie!

2. Second up, three bras from Nordstrom. Shopping for bras is right up there with bathing suit shopping. Nevertheless, my lingerie wardrobe is at a point that if I was tragically hit by a car while walking alone on a dark road, the medical examiner would tag me as "homeless" when he took a look at my bra. So, I pulled off this skanky garment to use as a reference, and let my fingers do the walking on Nordstrom.com. The result - 3 of these bras - at $52 a piece. It could only be worse if they charged by the breast.

3. Lastly, was a free gift from Real Simple magazine. Let me say that this is a great magazine for any woman with a busy life. The unexpected gift is a notebook with plastic page holders so that readers can keep all the great articles, recipes, etc., that they pull out of the magazine in one place. Great idea, but I still haven't put my Belize and Yellowstone vacation photos into the already purchased albums.

And in one more reminder of why dogfighting and those who engage in it are despicable, the 53 pit bulls confiscated from Michael Vick's property will likely soon all be euthanized. Having been trained to fight, mistreated and abused, they are not candidates for adoption.

This morning I started in on the "exercise more" part of my new lifestyle plan, and rode my bike 8 miles after walking 2 miles with the dogs. Walking the dogs is really not much exercise since we stop every 3 feet to sniff and/or pee, except for the upper body work out I get trying to keep Hanna away from every discarded piece of food and trash. Hanna prefers to ignore the role I play in scooping food into her bowl, and instead seems to think that she survives solely on her own wits and ability to scavenge tire-flattened candy bars and french fries lurking in the grass.

Last night I started reading "The Plot Against America" by Philip Roth. The premise of the book is that the anti-semitic/Hitler friendly/isolationist Charles Lindbergh was elected president in 1940 on the Republican ticket, (instead of FDR being re-elected), and the different path the country took as a result. Since I am not happy with the path we are on since W was elected, and it scares me to think where it may lead after the next election, I find the book to be very thought provoking.

And today I found this snippet on the 'net:

One in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.

People from the South read a bit more than those from other regions, mostly religious books and romance novels. Whites read more than blacks and Hispanics, and those who said they never attend religious services read nearly twice as many as those who attend frequently.

There was even some political variety evident, with Democrats and liberals typically reading slightly more books than Republicans and conservatives.

To borrow a quote from Mark Twain off of Maggie's blog:

"A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read." ~ Mark Twain

My cool discovery for the afternoon is Tom’s Shoes. For each pair of shoes purchased (they are sold through alot of different retailers), Tom's donates a pair of shoes to a needy child. In 2006, they donated and delivered 10,000 to children in Argentina, and are preparing to deliver 50,000 pairs to needy children in South Africa.

And they look comfy!

Today is the first day, of the rest of my life . . .

<---- my niece and I on the porch of our cabana in Belize ( March 2006)

It's Monday, so I must be starting my latest diet. I am having difficulty finding the motivation to eat less (and healthier) and exercise more. Yesterday, I spent a couple of hours preparing healthy meals for the week: a lowfat, crustless Asparagus Quiche, Lemon Chicken Couscous, Vegetable Chili, and some Confetti Corn Muffins. The recipes were obtained from cookbooks for "The Formula Diet", the "South Beach Diet" and Cooking Light. The food is all plentiful, tasty, and healthful. I know if I can stick with this long enough to "feel" thinner and healthier, the motivation to continue will increase. Wish me luck!

I spent a couple of hours yesterday cooking, and listening to James Lee Burke's Pegasus Rising, one of his Dave Robicheaux crime novels set in New Iberia, Louisiana, outside of New Orleans. I just discovered Burke, and enjoy his writing, having just finished Crusader's Cross. I also put the kitchen tv on (muted) to watch the Angels finally keep it together enough to take a second game from the Red Sox. No offense to Flix, but I hate the Sox . . .

Even though I live at the beach, I don't get out on the sand as much as I should. This weekend, I went swimming and laid on the beach reading both days - it was lovely! I also wish to offer up my back for any sunblock companies who want a photo example of what happens when you miss one spot with sunblock . . .

Yeah, it's a Monday, but here's to a good week for us all!

p.s. the slowcooker ribs were freakin' awesome!

p.p.s. According to Michael Vick's attorney: "Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made. Michael wishes to apologize again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter."

This after he told the NFL he knew nothing about what others were doing on his property, and after he asked the public not to pass judgment, and to give him the opportunity to "clear his good name".

Here's hoping for a serious fine, jail time, and a lifetime ban from the NFL . . .

When I went swimming yesterday, there were some Bottlenose Dolphins slowly meandering along the coast.

<----this photo, however, was taken in Belize in March 2006, when I took my niece to Belize to particpate in some Bottlenose Dolphin research on Blackbird Caye.

I'm off for a swim, and hope the Dolphins come back again . . .

Oh man, it is not yet 8:30 am, and my house smells sinfully good. I've got the slow cooker going with some barbecued ribs . . . I've marinated them overnight, browned them in the oven, and now they'll cook about 8 hours in the slow cooker. Like most slow cooker recipes, the food is actually better a day later after it rests, so we'll have them for dinner Sunday evening.

When the pot of dog stew is done, I'm heading off for a bike ride, and then planning to spend some time on the beach reading The Old Man and the Boy (my third book for Maggie's Southern Reading Challenge. ) The day promises to be a warm one, and the Pacific has been especially warm for the last month or so.

Oh well, I can hear Nanners barking at something, so I'd better go . . . have a great Saturday!

Today the girls got their semi-annual baths, and I'm seriously considering bathing myself this morning. Work has been crazy busy, but a number of projects have been postponed, so I'm looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend.

In other news, all 3 of Michael Vick's co-conspirators have entered guilty pleas, leaving Vick twisting in the wind . . . . With the recent pleas, there is now sworn testimony from his buddies that Vick not only financed the operations and provided the funds for the illegal gambling (the action that will likely be considered the most serious by the NFL), but personally particpated in the execution of dogs by hanging and drowning . . . the question remains: when is NFL commissioner Roger Goodell going to step up and suspend Vick?

My Netflix queue is full of BBC television programming - I'm currently working my way through Season 3 of Ballykissangel and Season 2 of Jeeves and Wooster. Has anyone watched a DVD lately that you highly recommend?

TGIF!

All this week, I've been walking around like I have one nerve left in my body and every human being in the world is getting on it . . . So today, I am making a concerted effort to be cheery. Nevertheless, these are some of the things that have been bugging me lately.

I mentioned a few months ago that I was thinking of participating in an Avon Breast Cancer 40 mile charity walk in either LA or NYC. In 2002, I did a 60 mile walk in San Diego, and the painful memories had subsided enough to allow me to consider doing a long walk again. As with most of my good intentions, this one didn't quite pan out . . . but now I will never get rid of the Avon fundraisers.

When I first considered joining one of the walks, I requested information on both the NYC and the LA walks on the Avon website. I was immediately contacted by a nice woman who was coordinating walkers for the North Carolina walk. I told her thanks, but I was really interested in NYC and LA, not NC. She apologized, and said she'd pass on my information to the NYC and LA teams. When I didn't hear anything, I foolishly went online and again requested information on the NYC and LA walks. I then received an email from a gal coordinating the walk in San Francisco. I again thanked her, but stated that my interest was not in the SF walk, but was in the NYC and LA walks. She too promised to pass on my inquiry to the proper groups, but by this time, I had really lost interest. Try to tell the Avon fundraisers that.

Since then, in addition to email inquiries, I have received numerous phone messages from the fundraisers assigned to me for both LA and SF walks - including 2 this week. The message from the guy affiliated with the LA walk was especially amusing. He noted that I still hadn't signed up, that the walk was only a month away, but there was still time! Keep in mind, to participate requires raising at least $1,900, and a bit of advance training is encouraged.

And trust me, you'd have to be crazy to walk 40 miles around the hills of SF . . .

Sigh - I came home from work and read the last 125 pages of Harry Potter . . .

I really liked it, and hopefully, the lady at work who I always discuss the Potter books with, and who finished this book a couple of weeks ago, will be back in the office tomorrow!

Princess and Ffleur and anyone else who read it - what did you think? I'll post my thoughts as a comment . . .

Spoiler alert - if you haven't read the book yet, don't read the comments!

I started knitting up a (hopefully) quick summer project. While it may appear to be a scarf, it is actually the left front of Askew
from knitty.com, and it is supposed to look like this when it is finished. According to the pattern, the pieces will be small, and then must be "blocked" (aka stretched into the proper shape) after they are knitted . . . but I think this piece will have to be BLOCKED to within a strand of yarn of its life.

Took the Jessica Fletcher bicycle out for a spin this morning down to the Bolsa Chica jetty, and found a bunch of folks enjoying the morning fishing and surfing. I didn't stop for a Bloody Mary on the way home, but that was more a function of the pub not being open yet than any great restraint on my part.

I'm about half way through Harry Potter . . . oh, and half way through a bottle of pinot grigio. We'll see how much more of a dent I make in either or both today.

Today is Charlie Brown's last day with us. He LOVES his 2 big sisters, Nanners and Noodles, and he has even been able to lure Nanners into playing with him. I have to admit that 3 dogs + no back yard = alot of work, but it was also alot of fun to have him around.

I finally finished the knitting on this mohair sweater - it still needs to be sewn together and I need to add the spiffy buttons I bought for it.

When you live at the beach, you encounter the strangest things on a daily basis. This is how some yahoo decided to park on his way to breakfast at a local diner.

This week's batch of dog stew is simmering, the PGA Players' Championship is on TV, I'm getting into Harry Potter, and the dogs have wound down . . . hope your morning is going well, too.

I read the first four chapters of the last book in the Harry Potter series today at lunch time. I think my plans for the weekend have changed to drinking pinot grigio and reading as much of this book as I can. (Note: the former may impact the latter).

For the last couple days, I have been obsessed with the idea of sitting outside some charming restaurant, and drinking chilled glasses of pinot grigio. The ideal place would be a quaint cafe in Florence, but I may have to settle for some burger joint that offers wine out of a box.

Football season - the greatest of all the sports' seasons - is almost upon us. I love spending chilly Sunday mornings on the couch with a blanket and the remote control. The fact that I am almost always entered into a local pool, also makes the games more interesting.

Football season presents a conundrum for Miss Noodles. On the plus side, she gets to lay on the couch with me. On the minus side, I tend to yell at the television, and she finds this very disturbing.

I will, once again, be rooting for the San Diego Chargers. Last season they had the best record in the NFL, only to lose in the first round of the playoffs to that pantywaist Tom Brady and the freakin' Patriots. This season will be the first for new head coach Norv Turner - who formerly coached the Raiders. Spending any time with the Raiders brands you as a loser for life, unless your name is Marcus Allen. This also means I can pull out the world's most disgusting Chargers' sweatshirt to wear on a regular basis. I irrationally believe it screams out "Chargers' fan". Others believe it screams out "slob", "pitiful homeless lady" or "blind Chargers' fan".

Ah, football . . .

A late blooming Amaryllis, summer Snapdragons, and Cosmos! Some cheery things to get Wednesday off to a good start.

So far today, I have not left any documents at home, and I have not ruined any clothes. In fact, I am wearing a pair of spiffy new navy chinos from J.Crew, that I bought on sale, along with a lovely sweater I made myself.

Despite the fact that I am on day 3 of Nutrisystem, I am not yet supermodel thin. Go figure. And yes, I did start the diet before I blew out the zipper on my skirt yesterday.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Wednesday defended his five sons' decision not to enlist in the military, saying they're showing their support for the country by "helping me get elected."

Romney, who did not serve in Vietnam due to his Mormon missionary work and a high draft lottery number, was asked the question by an anti-war activist after a speech in which he called for "a surge of support" for U.S. forces in Iraq.

The woman who asked the question, Rachel Griffiths, 41, of Milan, Ill., identified herself as a member of Quad City Progressive Action for the Common Good, as well as the sister of an Army major who had served in Iraq.

"Of course not," Griffiths said when asked if she was satisfied with Romney's answer. "He told me the way his son shows support for our military and our nation is to buy a Winnebago and ride across Iowa and help him get elected."

I'd note what an idiotic comment this was, but this is the same guy who used to strap the family pet to the roof of the car (in a carrier) when the family went on cross-country vacations . . .

Hey, Monday sucked, but how is Tuesday going?

As I was walking to the office from the parking garage this morning, I saw my reflection in a building and noticed that . . . the zipper had broken in the back of my skirt. There was no time to turn around and go home because I was expected to join in a conference call within the hour. I pulled down my top as far as I could and slunk into the office. From there, I asked a co-worker for a safety pin. No luck there, but she did have a mini sewing kit, so I spent the next 10 minute in the bathroom sewing the zipper closed. 7 hours later? So far, so good . . .

I don't want to jinx myself by guessing what will go wrong manana . . .

This is pretty much how I spent Monday . . .

8:30 am - I headed off to work, dreading what promised to be a busy and hectic day. I had 8 documents that absolutely had to be sent out by mail. When I got to the office, I found that one of the documents was on my home computer only.

11:00 am - drive back home to retrieve document from home computer.

4:30 pm - head to friends' house to deliver dinner (they recently had a baby).

5:15 pm - realize I didn't confirm with my assistant the documents had gone out by mail.

6:30 pm - speak to attorney still at the office who confirms that it appears the documents were served by mail.

7:30 pm - unable to relax wondering if all 8 documents were served, I drive back to the office.

8 pm - confirmed. Drive home.

Here's hoping for a better Tuesday.

Ok, so family time was pretty painless, and mom even arrived bearing gifts. For my brother, a couple of shirts. For me, these shorts. Feel free to click on the photo to enlarge it, so you can better appreciate the peacock print and the white rick rack (who knew they still make it?) on the pockets.

Will they work as "campy" golf shorts? Would they work if I was 65 and living in Palm Beach?

Any suggestions?

Happy Sunday! Between Hanna, Samantha and Charlie (who prefers hanging out at my house), I'm pretty much living in a kennel. I can't decide if I like being around chaos, or if it is actually easier with three dogs, because the dogs entertain themselves.

I took the Jessica Fletcher bicycle out for a lovely ride this morning with my neighbor along the beach. On the way home we stopped for a couple Bloody Marys. We ran into an old neighbor, and spent some time catching up with him and watching the X Games. I was rooting for Shaun White to win the skateboarding competition, and he pulled off an amazing final run to grab the gold.

My mother is in town, but hopefully 2 Bloodys will be enough to get me through family time . . .

Hope you all have a good Sunday!

Summer is here, and the kids are out of school. I'm sure many of them are off to summer camp like I used to do when I was about 10 - 12 years old. I would trek up to our local mountains to attend Girl Scout Camp - Camp Jo Sherman - nestled into a plot of land heavily populated by tarantulas, scorpions and rattle snakes. I couldn't find the camp by doing a search on the 'net, which leaves me to believe that they finally did manage to kill off some campers, as opposed to just almost killing them off when I was a girl.

In case you're wondering, Tarantulas are apparently drawn to light, like slow moving, ground dwelling moths, so that at night, when we'd gather in the group shelter, tarantulas would start migrating towards the shelter from all sides. The legs of the cots were placed in large cans half filled with water, so beasties couldn't crawl up the legs into your sleeping bag. And every year, a rattler or 2 would be spotted too near the camp for comfort. And, yes, it really does taste like chicken.

So one year, my group's counsellors (who in retrospect were just dumb girls in their late teens) decided to take us - 25 11 year olds - on an overnight hike. They drove us in trucks - all of us stuffed in the back - to a campground. The plan was for us to camp overnight, and then hike back to the Girl Scout campgrounds - the trucks would haul our sleeping bags and supplies back for us. Before we left, the camp nurse lined us up to make sure we were all fit to hike. I just had a visor, so she put a paper towel on my head for sun protection. (I later substituted a shirt). I never had to visit the nurse for any illness, but my recollection from the other girls is that her cure for everything was to make them put their finger down their throat to vomit.

What everyone overlooked is that less than half of us had canteens - I was one of the few who did. They seemed to think that there would be enough watering spots along the way that we wouldn't need to carry water - and boy, were they wrong. It turns out the counsellors hadn't been along this trail in quite some time, and/or were confused, and there was NOWHERE to get water once we broke camp. Those of us with canteens shared with the others who were without. Suddenly, I was 11 years old deciding who would live or die . . . well, sort of.

As we hit midday, the counsellors began to panic and decided we needed to find some shade to ride out the hottest part of the day. We climbed under an overhanging ledge in the face of the trail on which we were hiking. The only food we each carried was an apple, and in one of my luckier moments in life, I had received a perfect apple - sweet and juicy. To this day, I can remember how good it tasted.

As dusk was approaching, we finally found a cabin with a water spigot, and we all lined up to drink. The first time through, many of us, including me, vomited the water back up . . . the second time through the line, though, we were able to keep the water down. We finally got back to camp in the dark, and long after dinner had been served. They brought to our camp what was available from the kitchen - pans of peach cobbler and lots of milk. That too tasted unbelievably good . . .

Besides being almost constantly thirsty for the next few days, there were no ill effects, and I don't think I ever even told my parents what had happened, knowing they'd never let me return if they knew the truth . . .

It's hot and humid at the beach today, and that means that Hanna, Samantha and Charlie (those are his legs peaking out from under the bed) all have the groggies . . . Actually, I do too, but I'm golfing at 4pm. I know I will be glad when I get there, but right now, giving in to the groggies sounds like the way to go.