Life, Fannishness, and Thespic Infatuation

A lazy day

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 20:40:56 GMT

I don't know why, but I feel really exhausted right now. It's been a lazy day, and I could just sleep.

Yesterday was good. Had calls from Li'l Bro, Mom & Dad, and MiL. This was the first Christmas for both Geo and me that we're completely away from our families with no plans to visit. Instead, we went to some friends' house. But I'm getting ahead of things.

Geo and I exchanged presents in the morning. I received a new 2-tiered steamer and Julie and Julia on DVD. George received a deluxe set of Abbot & Costello movies on DVD and a DVD of Logan's Run (which isn't nearly as cheesy as I thought it would be, considering I only remember it vaguely from when I was a kid). Then we made mashed potatoes to take to dinner at friends' house.

Oh, and I finished the cake I started yesterday:

It was quite a success, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I have discovered, though, why 7-minute frosting is such a challenge to work with. But since my mom tells me that Grandmama was an expert with the stuff, I've decided I should probably master it, too.

As an aside, if I'm ever in a position to bake a cake for one Jensen Ackles (yeah, right. Like that would ever happen *snerk*), this will be the cake to bake. It was judged rich and chocolatey without being too sweet, and I have found recipes for chocolate 7-minute frosting. For myself, I think a peppermint frosting with crushed peppermints might be a good choice. Or with an orange flavor, since the citrus from the Grand Mariner wasn't apparent in the flavor. But the cake itself was fantastic, and the ganache was really, really rich (a little goes a long way for me).

Also, if you've got enough prep time, there is no reason not to make homemade mashed potatoes. They're stupid easy, and I've been given a wide variety of choices of ingredient to add to the creamy flavor. The recipe I used yesterday called for cream cheese (I also tossed in the remaining whipping cream from the ganache recipe), Aunt J1 uses evaporated milk, and my dad uses whatever is in the fridge (sour cream or milk or even cottage cheese, I think). And homemade mashed potatoes is one of the premiere comfort foods ever.

So, anyway, we spent the day with Friends and their two sons (age early-20s and college freshman). The food was great, and the eldest son wants to be a brewmeister or whiskeymeister or something similar. Basically, he's a beer and whisky connoisseur. The family had made their own mead--which was very tasty, and hard cider, which doesn't have near the kick of my version of hard cider (though it does have more alcohol, I'm sure).

They're game players, so we played Yahtzee, Rack-o, and after dinner we played a new game, You've Been Sentenced. Then Geo pulled out the Pit game. Which is fast and loud and hilarious. It was a good laugh. (If you want a true challenge, play silent Pit--wherein you're not allowed to say anything. Not as easy as it sounds, and there's much more hitting and slapping.) We topped it off with a game of Apples to Apples, the Geo and I headed home.

All in all, a quiet Christmas, but a delightful one.

Forgive me if you find me spamming you this week. I'm sure I'll be getting kind of thinky within the next few days as we finish out the year and the decade, and my next birthday approaches.

He has also set eternity on the hearts of men;

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 14:33:23 GMT

yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to the end. ~ Eccl. 3:11

You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end. ~ Luke 1:31-32

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see--I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord." ~ Luke 2:10-11

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors." ~ Luke 2:13-14

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. ~ John 1:14 (NAS)

John 1:14, Young's Literal Translation--I just discovered this today, and I believe it captures the awesomeness of the day:

And the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us, and we beheld his glory, . . . (bold mine).

I've never heard tabernacle used as a verb, but it brings an amazing new level of awareness, if you understand the importance of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was the central focus of the Hebrews as they wandered in the wilderness. All tribes assembled themselves around the Tabernacle when they pitched their tents. It was the center of sacrifice and atonement. It was, literally, where God resided among His people. It held the Holy of Holies, and the Shekinah Glory--the very presence of God.

And the Word was God (John 1), and became a man, and was present among us.

In the tiny baby, born to an obscure family in a tiny town, God became flesh--all of His awesomeness contained in a frail, breakable human body. Emmanuel. God with us. How can we possibly fathom this? It brings tears to my eyes to think about.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:29:32 GMT

I shall offer proper wishes tomorrow, but in case anyone is going to be away from their computers, I'll take this opportunity to wish all my f-listies a very Merry Christmas! Thank you for all the camaraderie. For giving me an ear to bend and sharing fannish endeavors. For thinky thoughts and silliness. I hope you have a wonderful, peaceful day spent with those you love.

After a surprise call from my endocrinologist's office scheduling me for a blood draw (local, thank goodness), Geo and I did some last-minute shopping and grocery shopping. When we got home, I started on my big Christmas delectable project, which I'm taking to friends' Christmas dinner:

It's from this month's Southern Living magazine, and I'm kind of impressed how it's turned out thus far. (I'll post pictures of my cake--this one is from the website.) I was also tickled to pieces to find that the liquor store had orange liqueur (Gran Mariner, to be precise) in the little bottles, because there is no way we'd ever use a full-sized one.

And as I was putting this together from scratch, and looking at how to make the ganache filling (which appears to be stupid easy), I couldn't help but think of this clip, specifically 0:00 - 0:54.

Tonight is Christmas Eve service, then rumor has it we might be in for some ice. If that's the case, Geo and I will have a very unassuming Christmas dinner topped off by an awesome chocolate-citrus cake.

Oh! Also, if I'm going to make these types of things very often, I'm definitely going to need a stand mixer.

Also also, Geo just finished putting the new vanity in my bathroom and hanging the mirror. And you know what? It. Looks. AWESOME! He did a great job, and I'm tickled my decorating choices actually came together. Now I just need to get the the faucet hardware and touch up some of the paint.

Winter Solstice

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:47:48 GMT

Today is December 21, the winter solstice, the first day of winter, the shortest day of the year. Which means tomorrow the days are going to start getting longer.

But more importantly, it means that one month from today (January 21), new eps of SPN will be back in rotation. \o/

I'm rather sore today. But it's lessening to an "oh, I got a good workout yesterday" ache rather than an "ow I can't move please don't ask me to move what do you mean I have to get up and do chores" type of thing. Lower back, obliques, and arms. I'll be moving a little slower than usual today.

Last month, luvwinchesters introduced me to Sandy Carlson's blog, Á la Sandy. If you're a foodie of any sort, check it out. She's got some really cool recipes, some of which are easy enough to satisfy me. (I've often said of myself that if you are what you eat, then I'm fast, cheap, and easy.) However, I'm fast coming to the conclusion that I need a stand mixer. It's a little late to put that on my Christmas list, so perhaps it shall go onto my birthday list. I'm partial to KitchenAid for no other reason than one of their flagship stores is in Greenville, OH. Also, I think the one my mom has is a KitchenAid, from when I was a wee squeaker.

I'll probably be back later with some sort of approaching-the-year-end round-up. Looking at the goals I set for myself, and deciding what sort of goals I want to set for 2010.

I can't believe Christmas is Friday. I've still got shopping to do.

A new favorite quote

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:56:41 GMT

Sometimes angels bring messages. Sometimes, they bring lunch.

~Gary Kinnaman, Angels Dark and Light, page 68.

Well, that was invigorating (read: Ow!)

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:47:57 GMT

Yesterday was staying in, reading, baking cookies, watching the snow. Today was the exercise to make up for the cookies.

Victory! We got the walk and the driveway cleared. Without benefit of a snowblower or plow. And we've figured the routes that (today) are clear enough to travel where we need to go. In other words, ow. I am going to be so sore tomorrow.

It's a beautiful sunny day today, and the mountains are particularly picturesque with the snow and the blue sky and the clouds. I might have pictures later.

Geo and I have come to the conclusion that the Commonwealth of Virginia has no friggin' clue how to deal with snow. Seriously. We've had I don't know how many pieces of farm equipment with snow blades, plus at least one real snowplow, zip up and down our road today, and there are still portions that are impassible if you don't have a heavy vehicle or 4-wheel drive. (I really miss my Ford Tempo in this kind of weather.) Only one lane on Rt 29 was clear, and not completely.

The headlines are calling this the Blizzard of '09! But there were no high winds, no "storm" conditions in our area. To me, this was just a really heavy snowfall. Back in Ohio, people die during blizzards. They freeze to death in their homes when they lose heat, or die trying to shovel themselves out. I haven't gone looking for any such statistics here, and I know a lot of people were stranded in various places and they had shelters set up and stuff. And I am so thankful for our warm house and our full pantry. And I'm sure folks in the rural areas where self-sufficiency is a must are more prepared for these types of unusual circumstances. But to me, this was not a blizzard. Snow storm, maybe. But calling it a "blizzard" seems kind of extreme.

However, I am considering investing in a new pair of winter boots. I can't find my old ones ("oh, you won't need them in Virginia"), but now knowing that this kind of weather is possible, I'm thinking it would be a good idea.

Winter Wonderland

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:40:25 GMT

The snow continues to come down. I've squeed with glee more than once this morning.

We have two lamp posts. This is the one we affectionately refer to as the Narnia Light.

The Narnia Light at 5:30am:

Out the bay window at 5:30am. Geo comments that the bird feeder looks like Marg Simpson. Ha!

My car at 5:30am:

The front walk, 5:30am. That's our other lamp post at the end of our driveway:

Looking out your French doors onto the screened-in back porch:

And two views of our back yard:

And it's still coming down. Word is that the last time Culpeper had this much snow was in 1989. Previous to that it was 1969. Sounds like a 20-year pattern to me.

Also, if anyone can tell me how to display these pictures larger than they show up in the entry, I'd be much obliged. :-)

It's a Marshmallow World . . .

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:52:48 GMT

It's light outside, and I've seen one snowplow (actually, more like a piece of farm equipment with a blade on the front--maybe some of our snowplows are subcontracted?) and one person out and about in their SUV.

It's so beautiful, and standing here at my bay window, watching the birds enjoy the seed I tossed out a little while ago, reminds me of my Michigan Aunt (Aunt J2). She loved sitting by her picture window, sipping her coffee, watching the birds in the snow. I miss you, Aunt J.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . .

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:41:40 GMT

Up at 5:30am (it seems that if I'm going to get extra sleep, it has to be on the front end of the night. I can't seem to sleep much past 5:30-6:00, like, ever). Looked out the window. Everything is covered in snow! It's beautiful! PIctures later today, hopefully.

They've been predicting a HUGE snow (like, upwards of 18 inches), and it looks like they got it right. Traffic was terrible yesterday with everyone frantic to prepare for the Big One. I admit, as an Ohioan, it rather amused me (when I wasn't sitting in standstill traffic on my way to a sudden doctor's appointment). As an Ohioan, I also have to admit that this would be a Level 3 snow warning back home. Yesterday was Geo's and my regular shopping day, and I'm glad we went ahead and got it done.

Looks like today is going to be a day inside, admiring the snow, watching Christmas movies, and getting some last minute cards done. (Though with the roads the way they are, I don't know if the mail will be going or not.)

ETA: 6:30, and it's still dark outside, the snow clouds are so thick. Also? If we were back in Ohio, we would have heard a snowplow go by by now. No such goings-on in Culpeper. I think maybe they only have one snowplow for the entire county.

Facebook warning

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:10:34 GMT

As of today, Facebook will automatically start plunging the Earth into the Sun. To change this option, go to Settings --> Planetary Settings --> Trajectory then UN-CLICK the box that says 'Apocalypse.' Facebook kept this one quiet. Please make this your status to help get the word out.

Thanks to Jim Beaver for the heads-up. He's always lookin' out for us.

Buckeyes!

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:53:26 GMT

Just finished the season's first batch of buckeyes. Five dozen this time around. Oy!

Hopefully this will appease the mob at Geo's work tomorrow.

Little Sure Shot

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:01:47 GMT

The other night, Geo was watching a DVD of an eclectic assortment of Christmas TV episodes. And one such show was a TV version of Annie Oakley. Well, knowing that there is early footage of the real Annie Oakley, I at first saw the title and thought maybe it was going to be a documentary of some sort. Though it didn't quite look like it. Then I saw the girl come on screen, and I told Geo the obvious: "That's not Annie Oakley." (It didn't look a thing like her.)

So while he was watching, I hopped on-line and discovered that this was an ep of a TV show he was watching. (Which became pretty obvious when it started playing out as a narrative and all.)

But as I've got something of an interest in Annie Oakley, she being from Darke County, where my dad was raised (he was raised in Greenville, to be specific. He's often told me that Annie Oakley taught him everything he knows about guns), I started doing a little surfing.

Now, when I was a wee lass, I did a book report on Annie Oakley. And I've visited her grave in Darke County. But I didn't remember much about her beyond the very basics.

And you know what?

She was fairly awesome.

The Annie Oakley Foundation website is a good place to start. Here's one of the things that impressed me most:

Annie set an example for women and helped change the American public's mind regarding what were appropriate sports and activities for women. She also argued for a woman's right to bear and use firearms, both for sport shooting and for self-defense. She coached more than 2,000 women in firearm safety and shooting. As a public service she traveled the Eastern coast, at her own expense, demonstrating the safe and effective use of firearms for World War I soldiers.

This seems to be a good, brief biography as well.

You know, it just now occurred to me. I've long been partial to the name Phoebe. It conjures images of Gibson Girls and class and refinement. Now I'm wondering if I'm not actually partial to the name because of Phoebe Ann Mosey. Hm . . .

It's not the People's Choice Awards, but . . .

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:54:49 GMT

Here's an interesting tidbit of information:

IMDB.com Top Stars of 2009. Check out #87.

And from this article:

“STARmeter is a fascinating indicator of what’s actually of interest to our users,” said Keith Simanton, managing editor, IMDb.com. “In 2005 we couldn’t figure out why the young actor that played Cedric Diggory, a relatively minor role in ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,’ showed up in the top 10 of our weekly STARmeter charts. Now that actor, Robert Pattinson, is No. 1. STARmeter registers something that may otherwise be imperceptible: genuine, popular interest – a kind of charisma indicator. This year’s version is Jensen Ackles, who plays one of the brothers on the TV show ‘Supernatural.’ He comes in at No. 87.”

Oh, Christmas Tree

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:42:53 GMT

Finally got the tree up and decorated last night. Had to resuscitate the star (the bulbs required for our star seem to be getting harder to find). Watched the Tonic Sol-Fa Christmas concert on DVD while we decorated. I love that concert. I miss working theater.

Something I've noticed

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:22:24 GMT

I noticed something in this picture:

Jensen's been wearing a silver ring on his right hand for a long time. Also? His hands are pretty darn beautiful.

What?

Twinkle, twinkle

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:59:39 GMT

Well, the tree is up and the lights are on. The star is burnt out, so tomorrow after church we'll stop and get new bulbs, and we'll finish decorating tomorrow afternoon.

Right now, Geo is making butter cake for Lamingtons for his office party on Wednesday. I've got the ingredients lined up to make buckeyes, but I won't get to them until tomorrow at the earliest, which means I probably won't have a batch done until Tuesday or Wednesday.

Geo and I watched The Christmas Cottage last night. I still really like it. It made me cry in several places this year. I've had bouts of melancholy this season, but I can't really talk to anyone about it.

Time to go change the laundry.

Festival of Lights

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:26:52 GMT

I fear I might be a bit late for this, but maybe not. Did it start last night at sundown, or does it start tonight at sundown? Anyway . . .

Happy Hanukkah to my Jewish f-listies!

*icon used as it's the closest I have to celebratory lights*

Old Spoilers, ahoy!

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:54:19 GMT

Found this Kripke interview while I was surfing this morning.

I haven't read all of it, but I had to comment about a few things.

First, I love the comparison between how they broke their stories sessions in S1 compared to now:

"What's funny is, in Season 1, we would start [story breaking sessions with], "What are the episode ideas?" And we'd start with, "What's the monster?" And now we do that last.

"[Now]We break with, "OK, what should we put Sam and Dean through?" And then we say, "Oh, we should have them be confronted with an author who's their 'creator,'" or "We should see what their lives were like in high school," -- we come up with all of these different random notions of [what they are going through]. ...And then we say, "OK, what's a monster that'll let us do that?"

I believe we all know this, but Kripke & Co. finally saw the importance of peril, whump, and angst to the survival of the show. Like, on-going, serial peril and angst. I like how it started out to be all about the monsters (which the rest of us know so was never the case), and eventually they clued in to it being about "what are we going to put them through now?" Heh!

Warning: Snark ahead

"We always had the demon plan [for the seasons as they progressed], but the angels came in, and it was one of those things where it's like, if anything, we felt stupid for not thinking of it sooner -- because how do you have demons without angels? (Bolds mine)

Gee, I dunno, Kripke? Ya think? I said for ages and ages, with the feeling becoming particularly intense when Ruby disclosed to Dean, that there needed to be a supernatural force for Good. Don't know why you didn't clue into that earlier, unless it has something to do with your implied disbelief in supernatural forces for Good.

"We slap our forehead against our hands, and say, "Why didn't we think of it sooner?"

I don't know. Why didn't you? Though I will say that the timing was excellent. I haven't had such a visceral reaction to a show like the reaction I had to Castiel unfurling his wings for the first time . . . well, in a long time. It was awesome. So maybe it just hadn't been right in the story before that point. Either way, kudos on introducing Castiel. In deference to general politeness, I won't go off right now on your depiction of other angels.

*toddles of to read the rest*

And . . . I'm not gonna read the rest. I still don't like how he explains Lucifer at this point in the game, and I kind of get the feeling that things have evolved somewhat since this interview anyway.

Comments are welcome; spoilers are not. Anything up to 5.10 is fair game. Anything beyond that will make me sad and possibly result in a preventative salt-and-burn.

More spoilers of the generic kind (ETA)

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:49:05 GMT

Apparently, Jim spent the day blowing the heads off innumerable zombies.

*twiddles thumbs waiting for the end of hiatus . . . *

ETA: From JB's Twitter . . . "Shooting people who are already dead...seems redundant but sometimes it's necessary."

Ain't it the truth.

Zumba! (Take 2)

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:17:23 GMT

I made it to zumba class tonight. It was actually more like a private tutorial, since I was the only one who showed up. (She just moved the class to Wednesday nights, and a lot--or all, apparently--of her regulars can't do Wednesdays right now.)

It's not as much fun as belly dancing, but it's a good workout. Kind of a mix of Latin and hip-hop-type moves. (Which, watching my German/Scotch-Irish 40-year-old self doing hip-hop? It's like something out of a Saturday Night Live skit. The florescent lights do nothing to enhance the illusion that I actually look good doing what I'm doing.) But the music is a lot of fun, and there are some basic steps that come really easy to me.

We also had fun chatting between sets. I told her about the Michael Jackson movie, and tried to show her how to waltz, and she was telling me about teaching line dancing and stuff.

I do think I need to get a pair of leggings for the class, so I can see what my legs and knees are doing. I was trying to show her some belly dancing moves, and for belly dancing, you keep your knees soft, but she couldn't see that because of my workout pants.

Anyway . . .

It was good. Will take some practice to figure out how to do it without messing up my back on some things, but it was fun.

In other news, regarding my previous post, I have no desire to know what's up with Bobby. If I find out now, it will just torment me until January. So those of you don't want to know anything, you won't hear it from me.

Oh, Mr. Beaver, why must you torment us so?

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:02:39 GMT

Just read Jim Beaver's FB entry, stating that he'd just finished two days of shooting the two saddest, most difficult scenes he's ever shot. And he's very glad to get back to killing monsters.

His previous entry stated that he'd had a long, difficult, weepy day.

Now, I'm not overly familiar with JB's career, but it seems to me that that's a pretty big statement. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I just don't even know where to start to wrap my brain around it.

I rather wish they'd dole out one or two new eps to us during the course of hiatus. One for each of the two months. Is that so much to ask?

In other news, I plan to make every effort to get to zumba class tonight. Even though it is against my nature to try new things by myself.

Suzy Snowflake, Pt. 2

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:22:37 GMT

The nice thing about these snowflake cookies? Unlike my Grandmama's snowflake cookie recipe (that's actually what it's called. For real), these cookies have no calories!

Thank you to the secret Anonymous person, to izhilzha, to janglyjewels and to smalltwndreamer. My waistline thanks you, also. I hope you all are having a fantastic holiday season!

Stop the presses!!!!

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:05:17 GMT

Okay. So. Anyone who knows me in RL knows that I'm terrible at getting presents/cards/etc. mailed in a timely and efficient fashion. So I'm going to try something new, something bold, something daring and different this year. I'm going to try to get these puppies mailed out early!

So.

If you're so into the holiday spirit that you'd like to receive a card from me, let me know. Comments will be screened. And if you want to send me one and need my address, let me know that, too.

In unrelated news, "The Real Ghostbusters" is becoming one of my favorite eps of the season. There's so much great Brothers stuff, and I love the outsider POV aspect, and the meta about fandom speaks to me each time I watch. Also? The guys look really good in this ep. Just sayin' . . .

Suzy Snowflake

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:36:52 GMT

Wow! A veritable blizzard on my f-list when I logged on to LJ. Everyone's all a-flurry. Thank you, leelust for the sparkly little flake. It will last longer than what's outside my window right now, I'm sure. :-)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . .

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:56:30 GMT

I've been sitting here watching the snow come down all day. It's a wet, heavy snow, so it won't last. Earlier today, they were big heavy flakes. Now it's just small flakes coming straight down. It's really, really pretty. We haven't been out of the house today.

Now I'm going to go make butternut squash soup and balance my checkbook. At the same time. I'm talented like that. Let's just hope I don't burn the soup, and my numbers hit.