A small humble list of nice things

[mollyringle]

It is the year of the monkey, and, apparently, the month of complaining and drama (pronounced [dræ-muh]; and why can't Word give me a schwa?). So in the spirit of avoiding either of those, here's a little list of...

Stuff I Like Today

- The way my new zip-up knee-high boots hug my calves

- The temperature (51 F) and weather (light rain) outside

- Tomorrow being Friday

- Today being a payday

- The chocolate in the second drawer of my desk

- The fact that the peanut M & M's (part of said stash) are wearing formal-evening-dress colors of black and white. I'm not sure why they're black and white, since I haven't visited the M & M website to find out, but it's cute.

- Ivanhoe, which I've just started to read. It's my first encounter with Sir Walter Scott, I am ashamed to admit. But it's always fun to discover classics that genuinely are good.

- The music sent recently to me by raethe, all_timeqb, and ten_fifteen (in separate and various combinations). Have been inspired to look up more Postal Service tunes. Lisa Gerrard too, though I already have the majority of her material, I think.

- Having 27,000 words of the new novel written, and being very near the end of Act One. Not that it's actually divided into acts, but that's where it would be in the traditional three-act plot analysis device. This is the first time I've written a novel with said device in mind. It's also the first time I've written an actual outline before writing a novel. Not that I'm following it so closely.

- Tea, with half-and-half and a little bit of fake sweetener

- Knowing that I still haven't watched The Two Towers with the commentary tracks on, and that I therefore still have this treat in front of me

- This icon and the other ones like it, by arwen_elvenfair, derived from a brilliant combination of LOTR and MST3K. Go see!

Comments

[raethe.livejournal.com]

One can also say... "it's nice I don't have to come home to THIS (http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040114/capt.mil11101141548.italy_men_fashion_mil111.jpg)."

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Yay for novel! What is the subject?

[mekkio.livejournal.com]

I'd kill for a temp of 51F now. (Stupid, stupid cold snap.) Still it beats being in Boston and NY. They are getting anywhere from -20 to
-40. Sheesh. Mother Nature is a cruel mistress.

[vill.livejournal.com]

*sees your icon and explodes in a fit of giggle*

[sopdetly.livejournal.com]

Yeah, about that TTT cast commentary...lots of uber-environmentalism and anti-war talk coming from the hobbits. Personally, I felt like tearing down a few extra trees and starting a new war, just to say "ha!"

I also like feeding babies to puppies before I kill the puppies.

[sweetfires.livejournal.com]

Mhe! Why do people get this wrong? It's not the year of the monkey just yet, only after the *Chinese* New Year.

Heh. Sorry, just had to put in my $0.02

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Wow. I got distracted by the beard for a second, but then moved along to the amazing technicolor shawl. How Biblical he must feel.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Ghost story crossed with love story. (Like I can write anything that ISN'T part love story.) Seattle, modern day.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've decided I like temperate weather. Between about 45 and 75. Not much more, nor much less. Seattle's usually pretty good for all that. :)

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Hehe...dude, go to that link and look at the rest if you haven't. I was dying, trying not to explode in giggles at work yesterday when I found these.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Oh. Hrm. Thank you; I consider myself duly warned. Mostly Dom and Billy, is it..?

I do believe it's time for me to go throw rocks at the senior citizens living in cardboard boxes in my yard.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah. That's true. I think it must be because of all the paper place-mats in Chinese restaurants, which just list the years under each sign, without specifying dates any closer. :)

[sopdetly.livejournal.com]

It's B&D on the environmental stuff (they suggest that viewers should now feel compelled to plant a couple trees), and E&S on the war jazz.

Oo, and I did that last weekend. Loads of fun!

[raethe.livejournal.com]

Plus... doesn't that look like a powder blue leisure suit?

[vill.livejournal.com]

*chokes on numerous food-like objects*

[sweetfires.livejournal.com]

Ahh...Mystery solved I guess :)

[jazzypoet.livejournal.com]

Those are lovely! :-) *hugs* I think every Friday (or thereabout), I should post a list like this. It makes one remember the wonderful things in life....a reminder to be grateful. :-) Thank you for the inspiration!

Hey, I've not watched "TTT" EE with the cast commentary yet (or any of the commentaries for that matter), so that's something to definitely look forward to, I agree! :-)

Blessings and much joy with all your writing. You're truly talented!

And I am soooo sorry that I've been lazy about sending out your mix CDs. I've got three of them all packaged up and ready to ship out to you. Saturday, I go to the post office. I promise. :-)

Take care! Happy Friday!

[jedmiller.livejournal.com]

Oh, we all know the real reason for the confusion ... Right-wingers are intolerant of alternative calendars. I hear there's a bill coming to the floor of the House to abolish leap years, just to keep things simple. (Will also help with doing away with elections - since that worked so well in 2000.) But I ask you, where does that leave Shire-reckoning??

Also:
The way my new zip-up knee-high boots hug my calves

Argghhh!! [throws hands up protectively between face and screen] Too. Provocative. Must. Think. About. Paint. Drying. Or. Bland. Boiled. Vegetables ...

[trilliah.livejournal.com]

This might be answered in another message/reply thread, but as I'm lazy I'm going to ask you: are those icons up for grabs?

"Air is pretty..." PUMA MAN!!!! *wishes hard drive on other computer hadn't crashed and she still had that movie downloaded*

[elycia.livejournal.com]

Re the M&Ms: They're having some goofy promotion. The M&Ms have "lost" their colors; even the snack-size packages are printed in B&W instead of the traditional brown, yellow, etc. Not sure what's going to be required to restore the colors--not sure I WANT to know, truthfully. :-)

Enjoy your formal candy while it lasts!

Oh, and the TTT commentaries ROCK. I like listening to the version with Peter, Fran, and Phillippa (sp?)--very educational for the major geeks like me. :-)

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Sounds interesting!

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Hrmmf. Well, if all they say is "trees are good" and "war is not fun," I can agree with that. But when folks start suggesting that we on the right hate trees and LOVE war - that's when it gets stupid.

I'll brace myself for the worst before letting the commentary begin, then.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Oh, and, hee! I loved that icon you've got there, too. Was considering taking it. "Scream if you get killed." Eheheh.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Don't worry; the boots aren't vinyl or spike-heeled or anything really great like that. And today I'm wearing Doc Martens to even it out. :)

Yes...see, the Chinese are trying to take over the world, and we can't have that. So we're subverting their calendar as a way to demoralize and frustrate them. Psychological warfare.

You know, I heard that at UC Davis (my most recent alma mater), some department had to change their "holiday party" to an "annual party" because one of the staff complained that she was offended by the religious implications of the word "holiday." No joke. I was trying to think of a way to be offended by "annual." I think we have one now. Annual by WHOSE calendar? Huh? Huh?

If they would introduce a bill to do away with Daylight-Saving time, I'd be all for it. Bloody nuisance more than anything...

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Three CD's! That's awesome. Yet another thing to look forward to! Don't worry about them being late. I like expecting mail. :)

Happy Friday to you as well.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

That link comes from arwen_elvenfair's journal, on a pretty recent entry, and it just says the usual: take what you want, leave a comment. So go to! :) They're hilarious.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

You know, I've still not even listened to all the FOTR commentaries, including PJ et al's. I really should! And of course for TTT as well. I hear the special-effects commentary is quite interesting as well.

[ishyface.livejournal.com]

I tried to read Ivanhoe once. Found it absolutely impossible.
Then again I was about ten or eleven at the time. Should I try again?

~Jehane

[jazzypoet.livejournal.com]

Awww. :-D It was mailed today, so be on the look-out early next week!

Thanks! *hugs* Thank goodness for Fridays. Hope you have an awesome weekend. :-)

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

'Tis so far, so good. I'd say it's not as hard as Shakespeare, but maybe a titch harder than Tolkien. I wouldn't have gotten it at ten or eleven, certainly. :)

It's all online if you want to try reading the first chapter or so:
http://www.online-literature.com/walter_scott/ivanhoe/

We'll see if I end up finishing it. I did give up on War and Peace last year...

[(Anonymous)]

Iraqi WMD Discovered - In Europe

Per today's Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13416-2004Apr14.html):

- - - - - - -

UNITED NATIONS, April 14 -- Large amounts of nuclear-related equipment, some of it contaminated, and a small number of missile engines have been smuggled out of Iraq for recycling in European scrap yards, according to the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog and other U.N. diplomats.

Mohammed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned the U.N. Security Council in a letter that U.N. satellite photos have detected "the extensive removal of equipment and, in some instances, removal of entire buildings" from sites that had been subject to U.N. monitoring before the U.S.-led war against Iraq.

- - - - - - -

See:

http://nikita_demosthenes.blogspot.com/