Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Ready For Another Weekend

I need to try that again & do a better job this time. This past weekend was so hectic that I didn't get any downtime at all & boy am I feeling it this morning...

Note to self: Don't let anybody plan anything for me this weekend...

Sleep...sleep...must get sleep.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Blogspot Scheduling

There appears to be an issue with the scheduling function lately, so my posts could come at erratic times. Just wanted to let you know.

A New Adventurecon

There is a new sci-fi show coming to Pigeon Forge October 24 & 25. It is being run by the same folks who put on AdventureCon in Knoxville every year.

Who wants to go?

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Happy Sunday

Hope your day is peaceful and good.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Dixie Dregs

The fire at Georgia theater last week sent me into reminisce-mode. I remember one of my favorite bands that I ever saw there--the Dixie Dregs. Think Bela Fleck with a touch of the Allman Brothers & you'll have an idea of how they sound.

We used to road trip from Peachtree to get to the theater--back roads all the way. By the time we limped into town, sitting down in any air-conditioned room was a really intense feeling. We would rest a little, drink a little, rest a little...you get the picture.

The Dregs had a very laid back vibe but the crowds weren't always so mellow. Fights broke out from time to time & I do remember the night we all had to leave the building till the cops got things sorted out.

Their label was Capricorn Records out of Macon Ga.. Capricorn signed Widespread Panic, the Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, Wet Willie, Elvin Bishop, plus a few others too.

That was good stuff! Glad I was there to hear it : )

Friday, June 26, 2009

The News Is Coming Too Fast Lately

3 deaths in one day that have the US talking & the internet straining at the seams:

The death of Farrah Fawcett
The death of Sanford's political career, dignity, & possibly his marriage
The death of Michael Jackson

There were so many searches for "Michael Jackson" on the internet last night between 5 & 7pm that Google's security systems thought they were being hit with a denial of service attack & activated the "capcha" feature. The News section of Google also thought they were having a DOS attack as well.

Perez Hilton screwed up yet again this week when he blogged that he doubted that Jackson had gone into cardiac arrest & speculated that Jackson was pulling a stunt. He told readers to ask for their ticket money back. Very nice, right on the heels of the whole Much Music award night debacle (I'm not eve going there--look it up)

When the news that Jackson had died was confirmed, the ill-timed respons on Hilton's blog was deleted--but not before he was showered with criticism by his readers. I wonder if this is the start of the end of his 15 minutes?

Twitter saw a doubled rate of twits for about 2 hours after the news of Jackson's death started spreading.

Information overload.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Here's A Good Deal For You


Boscov's has a 12 volt wet/dry auto vacuum for $9.97. Sure, it's not as strong as your real wet/dry vac, but this one is small enough to store in the trunk of your car & will run on your lighter plug. Sounds convenient.

Here's the link.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Thank You Blackberry

I wrote a review a while back about my new Blackberry Storm 9530. Basically I said that it would be perfect if they could just fix a couple of issues.

I'm happy to report that the latest firmware update has done just that.

I love it : )

Thank you !

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Raw Food Vitamix Recipe

2 cups pitted bing cherries
1 cup rice
4 cups water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 vanilla bean
2 tbs raw agave nector

Soak the rice and vanilla bean in water overnight.
Put the goop in the Vitamix & blend till smooth.
Strain.
Put rice milk mixture into ice trays & freeze,

Add ice cubes, vanilla extract, agave nector, cherries & blend till smooth.

This recipe is a bit high in carbs, but a good option for those avoiding dairy. Not to mention it tastes great!

Enjoy!

Monday, June 22, 2009

RIP Georgia Theater


The Georgia Theater is gone. I don't know what to say, it feels like an old friend that left too soon.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Sunday

Hope your day is peaceful and good.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Hot Hot Hot!

It wouldn't be so bad if the humidity would just drop below 65%...

I may melt any minute...

Friday, June 19, 2009

Rockin Out

Tuesday night I got home about 9:30 as a storm was just getting rolling. We turned off all the lights in the house & went to the side porch with our respective glasses of tea. How relaxing. How awe-inspiring! The rain was loud on our big old trees, the lightening lit up Echo Mountain across the valley from us. That's what I call entertainment...

That's how I roll.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Another Raw Food Vitamix Recipe

Last week I posted a (gulp) failed recipe for chocolate coconut cherry candy. It didn't work because the coconut made it a little too runny. This week, no problem-->a real easy winner here!

1/2 fresh pineapple
milk & meat from one Thai coconut
1 tbs raw agave nector
3 cups ice


Blend till smooth then enjoy an incredibly refreshing drink. Simple but good.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Back In Town

I just got back from a trip to AdventureCon in Knoxville, TN. What fun! More to come in a later post.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The Kitty Says No Way!

Maybe this will only be amazing to me but...

I took the new kitty to the vet last week for the rabies shot required by the state when you adopt from a shelter. I felt really bad having to put her back into a cage when she was finally getting happy in her new home but I knew I had to do it. On the way there she meowed about every 5 seconds or so. She behaved really well at the vet's office & started occasionally meowing again when she was put back into the car. Then things got weird.

I had to stop at the shelter to turn in her rabies vaccine certificate. About 50 feet before I turned into the parking lot she went wild--cried like a baby, tried to get out of her cage, just went a bit insane. I hurried into the shelter & got out really fast--she was still doing it. I thought something might have gone wrong with her shot & as I was getting back into the car I was planning on going back to the vet. 50 feet away from the shelter parking lot she quieted right down & has been perfectly normal since then. Not happy we took her from her office mind you, but back to her old self.

How did she know?

Monday, June 15, 2009

Our Favorite Home Project

Without a doubt has been screening in the side porch. It's our favorite room now & the cats love spending the day watching Outdoor-O-Vision. We've feed the birds & squirrels close by & spend hours just hanging out there talking. That project cost about $650 for the supplies & about $600 for the furniture.

One more purchase we've been happy with has been denim-covered furniture. Yes, denim. Yes slip-covered, as in washable.

Ok Ken, any more questions?

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Happy Sunday

Hope your day is peaceful & good.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

A Bad Investment

Ok, Ken, part 2 of your many home-owner questions answered. What's the one home purchase we regret the most?

That would be the Ionic Breeze air purifier by Sharper Image. I'm not sure what we were thinking there! It just didn't do what the commercials promised & it makes an annoying sound when dust finally does start to stick to the electrostatic plates. Wasted money.

Things we've bought that we're disappointed in?

We bought new windows for the purpose of being more energy efficient but haven't been able to tell any difference at all. They look nice & are easy to clean though.

When the central air was installed they put in a unit that just didn't cool the whole house--not even close. We called them & instead of replacing it with a bigger unit they just added some fans to the vents. It's never really worked up to our expectations. Also every couple of years the drain pump quits working & Randy has to buy a new one & replace it (about $60). Either that or call somebody in & have it replaced for about $200. What a pain...

We had a privacy fence set up in our side yard. The first windstorm we had & the whole fence blew down. That was really disappointing considering what it cost in the first place.

Things we've bought we're happy about?

Definitely the bed. We have a king-sized Sleep Number bed. We originally bought it after much research & our main reason for buying it was that it has twice the warranty of any other bed out there--20 years. Also it is way more sanitary. Regular mattress's harbor dust mites--ecck! I have sinus/allergy problems & know that dust mites contribute to them. This bed doesn't have a mattress in it at all, just a mattress pad over it that is washable. So no dust mites! What we didn't expect was how dangerously comfortable it is. I could easily spend too much time in it if I let myself. Randy's sore back was history after about 3 weeks. Money well-spent.