An Offering of Myself to the World

Emma Laine is here!

Emma Laine arrived yesterday. Check out her vblog for all the details and her computer screen debut!

Montana Women's Run Results

"Congratulations on finishing the Montana Women's Run
on May 10, 2008.  For your records, the weather that day was
blustery and cloudy.

There were 166 finishers in the Women 45 to 49 age group and
1478 finishers in this distance (5 miles). There were 6441 total
registrants.

Your overall finish place was 994 and your age group finish place
was 121.  Your overall finish percentile was 67 while your age group
percentile was 73.  Your gun time of 1:21:47 gave you a 16:03 pace per mile.
Complete chip results will be posted shortly at www.perfect-timing.org."

Awesome. I guess walking two miles almost every day for the past couple of months helped. My best time ever was 1 hour 17 minutes that I set five years ago. I tried to beat that record and came pretty close. I told myself that if I walked 20 minute miles I would be happy so to do 16:03 minute miles was great! As long as I did better than 2006 (the last year I participated in the Women's Run). That year, I couldn't even finish. I don't even think I did three miles before petering out. I am usually pretty tenacious but that was one of the few times I quit. I needed to get that image out of my head.

And I did.

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

I couldn't resist...I had to post this!

Stages

The passing of a good man.

Hopes of Heaven, Fears of Hell

I don't normally get into watching "American Idol" anymore. It seems that no matter who wins, they can't seem to come out with a memorable album and the ones who don't win fare better than the ones that do. But everyone at work watches and seems to get into it and when in Rome...

So I started watching this year for the first time since Clay Aiken came in number two. (Yes, I am one of the three people in the world who actually like Clay Aiken's voice) I have to admit I usually do watch the first couple of weeks of AI because of all the weird people who audition. Now, I cannot sing my way out of a paper bag and there is no way that I would subject anyone to my voice. But if I were going to audition, I think I would record myself singing first before going on national television to make a fool of myself. Anyway...

This year, however, I became immediately enthralled by Josiah Leming. Yeah, he lived in his car, sang Grace Kelly, didn't make the top 24 and all that but that is not what captured my attention. It is his music. To be honest, I don't particularly care for his voice but he sings with his soul and that is what gets to me. And the lyrics he writes are so raw and filled with emotion, not to mention almost eerily prophetic. I expect great things from him.

So far, this is my favorite, (I'm sure he will write others)...One Last Song, along with the lyrics. Enjoy...

The ship was sinking; we were drinking, singing one last song,
Casting our gold into the ocean.
You grabbed a bucket, started screaming, "Come on, come on",
Let's try to slow the downward motion.
Back in the kingdom, we were kings and queens and Oh, so strong
That God himself could not contain us.
We never thought we'd be the shorter end of sword and gun.
Now God himself could never save us.

Waves of silver, waves of gold
Are coming down to take me,
To separate my body from my soul
And Jesus either leaves or takes me.
Hopes of heaven, fears of hell
What's the chance I'll make it.
All my other plans have failed,
And I've tried so hard to fake it.

We started sinking, drinking water from the open sea
Losing our bodies to the ocean.
You grabbed my hand and started screaming, "rescue me"
Together fight the downward motion.
Back in the kingdom we were kings and queens and Oh, so free
That god himself just had to show us.
We never thought we'd be the colder side of land and sea
But He's the only one who knows us.

Waves of silver, waves of gold
Are coming down to take me,
To separate my body from my soul
And Jesus either leaves or takes me.
Hopes of heaven, fears of hell
And what's the chance I'll make it.
All my other plans have failed,
And I tried so hard to fake it.

And I Remember When George Murdock was God.

Awesome Bernie...thanks for the link. I needed some good news for today! I hope this incarnation is as exciting as it looks. I did hear earlier that Zachary Quinto was playing a young Spock and I thought that was an excellent choice.

Happy 2008!

Well, another year has come and gone. A year which was sorely lacking of blog posts from yours truly. For this I am sorry but I cannot promise that next year will be any better. I didn't make any New Year's resolutions except to listen to more music. And, unlike the resolution to lose weight or exercise more, this is one I am more likely to keep.

I made a turkey today for lunch and I tried an experiment that I had seen on Food Network. I used fresh herbs like rosemary, sage and thyme...hmm, makes me think of song lyrics... and I mixed them with softened butter. I then separated the skin from the breast meat and placed the herbed butter in between. I covered the turkey loosely with foil and then baked it as usual. It was excellent...the butter made the turkey very moist and the herbs gave it a flavorful taste. And it added taste to the gravy as well.

My Christmas gift this year was a digital camcorder so be prepared for some video posts this year. I am not promising Oscar worthy posts but just something different. With a new baby coming this year and another wedding in the works, I won't have a shortage of events to film. 

Unfortunately, I will not be attending a Mika concert this year. The concerts which were close enough for me to attend were at dance clubs which means no seats. Which means I would have to jostle and climb over kids who are less than half my age and I just don't have the energy to do that anymore. The venue in Boston was an actual concert hall with seats but to get to Boston I would have to step on a plane. And I just can't do that, not even for Mika. Anyway, it's not like the "old days" when the only way to see your favorite performer was either live or on a television program. With the advent of YouTube and DVD's, it doesn't matter if you see your favorite performer live or not. I have seen Mika's concert countless times, just not in person. And you never know, some acts even make it to Montana...though usually that's when they are on a downhill slide or about to retire. 

Oh yeah, and try to watch the movie "Sweeney Todd" anywhere in Billings. I guess the theater monopoly we have here thought we might be too stupid to enjoy watching a movie like that. You know, as much as I love Montana, it is frustrating at times to live here.

Here's an Idea for a Great Birthday Gift!

A dream of mine may finally be coming true! Mika has planned a US tour and will be playing at the following venues:

Jan 31 2008 8:00P	Electric Factory	Philadelphia
Feb 1 2008 8:00P	Orpheum Theatre	Boston
Feb 2 2008 8:00P	Terminal 5	New York
Feb 5 2008 8:00P	House of Blues	Chicago
Feb 6 2008 8:00P	First Avenue	Minneapolis
Feb 8 2008 8:00P	In The Venue	Salt Lake City
Feb 11 2008 8:00P	Wiltern	Los Angeles
Feb 12 2008 8:00P	Warfield	San Francisco
Feb 14 2008 8:00P	Showbox SoDo	Seattle

A couple of them are close enough that I may get a chance to go. MAY...no, not may...I WILL go! The one on February 14th is only 3 days before my birthday. What better way to enjoy it than to spend it at a Mika concert. YAY!

The King's Top Albums for 2007

Stephen King writes that he is disappointed with the music of 2007 (shesh...no kidding) and could only find seven albums worthy of mentioning at all. Number two is WIlco's "Sky Blue Sky" and coming in at number three is Mika's "Life in Cartoon Motion".

No wonder he's my favorite author.

The Best Christmas Gift Ever!

I received an early Christmas gift this year but I won't see it until after Christmas. Sometime around June 24th. Jough and Beleisha have announced that I am going to become a Grandmother!

About a month ago, Jough called my phone but I had my hands full with McCoy and couldn't answer. My neighbor and vet was at the house giving McCoy his yearly shots and I was trying to wrassle (what a cool word...it's how we say "wrestle" in Montana) him and keep him down so the vet could get a look at him. McCoy is fine, by the way, still full of piss and vinegar.

I called Jough back and he answered the phone with, "Hello, Grandma!" With all the personal ring tones and caller ID, how could he mix me up with his grandma?

"No, this is your mother," I responded.

"I know," he said. And once again he repeated, "Hello, Grandma!"

Sometimes, I can be such an airhead. I think he had to repeat it three times before I made the connection.

The happy parents came to Billings to see the doctor last week and it was confirmed with an ultrasound. The due date is June 24th. We won't know the sex for a couple of months but it is only going to be one baby, despite the fact that Jough and I teased Beleisha about "the triplets". Beleisha countered with, "But all I wanted was a puppy!" Jough said he was going to place headphones on Beleisha's belly so the baby could listen to Metallica. "The baby's going to come out with a mohawk if you do that" was Beleisha's reply. I told them that forcing the baby to listen to Metallica was a good way to get him/her to crave Beethoven after birth. And I am also going to give the baby a set of drums. Beleisha said that the drums would be staying at our house. Jough wants to take the baby hiking with him next summer even though he/she won't be able to lift his/her head up yet.

This is all going to be quite an adventure!