One of the best things about Easter

(I always wondered where those eggs came from.)

Billy Mays does Shakespeare

This was on The Tonight Show last night. It cracked me up and made me roll my eyes all at the same time.



(And just as I was thinking I haven't had any Shakespeare stuff on my blog lately. Well, thanks, Jay & Billy)

Review: My Little Red Book

I think My Little Red Book by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff was the first LibraryThing Early Reviewers book I've gotten that I was really excited to get. Others have been nice to get, no doubt, but I love that this book even exists. As soon as I pulled it out of the envelope, I sat down and started reading, randomly jumping from essay to essay. I read a few aloud to my 8-year-old daughter, who already had an idea what menstruation is, although in a vague way. Her initial response to the essays was "Gross!" but she soon added "Will you read me some more of those?"

I love that we've come from a time when a girl's first period came as a complete shock without any previous mention of it to the poor girl, to a time when books like this are published. But I know the dialogue still isn't open for some. So many of the stories reflected the heartbreaking impression that "I am the only one this is happening to." Even girls who have been educated can have that feeling. As the editor says in the video below, "That's when no one talks about it, and that's when it matters most." I think this book could be a lifesaver for some girls.

The stories range from 1916 to 2008, from Nazi Germany to text messages. The updated version of Gloria Steinem's essay "If Men Could Menstruate" made me laugh out loud. "Men would brag about how long and how much," she writes. (The original essay is included at the book's site here.) I think it's great that several YA authors, Meg Cabot included, submitted their stories. The one thing missing is an essay by Judy Blume. As her books were an important part of so many of the stories, I would have loved to read Blume's own story. 

I was struck by the contrast in "The Simple Vase, Part I" by Laura Wexler and "The Simple Vase, Part II" by her daughter, Rebecca. The differing memories and emotions about a single First Period were fascinating, and something I will try to keep in mind when the time comes for my own daughter's First. I also had to make a note when reading "Let Down" by Tatum Travers, to not react the way her mother did.

In her essay "Going to X-tremes," Michelle Jaffe says "I discovered that how you react to Your First Period lets you see the beginnings of personality traits that are magnified as an adult." 

Like Jaffe, I don't remember my first period. By the time I got it, I had probably researched it to death and it was a "nonevent," like hers. I'd have to look to see if I even wrote about it in my diary (if I was keeping a diary at that time). I do remember that years before it came, I had discovered "The Box" in my mother's closet. It must have been the same sort of box mentioned in "My Support System was a Box" by Bonnie Garmisa, although her experience was not like mine. I do remember "The Talk" my mom gave me later. She told me horror stories of older women in the family having the "I'm dying" reaction because they'd never been told this would happen to them. I understood I was lucky to live in a time when I got "The Talk." I think my daughter is even luckier. She gets an ongoing dialogue, and this book. 

Kauder Nalebuff explains a little about the book in this video from the book's site:

Mary needs to post on her blog

My friend Cheryl St. John tagged me, so here goes...

The rules: You google your name plus the word needs inside quotes like this: "Mary needs" - Enter that in the Google search bar and then list the first fifteen hits that come up.

These are mine:

1. Mary needs to do this meme. Well, obviously.
2. Mary needs a little lamb. Groaning, rolling my eyes, etc.
   
3. Mary needs sleep. Always, always, always.
4. Mary needs shadows. If you've seen me, you know the sun and I aren't close friends.
   
5. Mary needs numbers. No, no I don't. I run far, far away from numbers.
   
6. Mary needs to do this meme, again. This time, Mary Connealy, a fellow member of the writers group Cheryl & I belong to, did the meme.
   
7. Mary needs to win. It would be nice to do that once in a while.
   
8. Mary needs stuff. Looking around my house, I don't think this is true. Mary needs less stuff!
   
9. "Queen" Mary needs saving. From time to time, yes, but you can just call me "Your Majesty." ;-)
10. "Sexy" Mary needs attention. Who, me?
11. "Saint" Mary needs overtime. Mixed feelings about overtime, and I'm sure I will NEVER be a saint. I'll settle for queen. Hey, why aren't any of you bowing yet?
12. Mary needs a booking agent. Don't I need a band first?
13. Mary needs to be slapped. Wha?!?!?
14. Mary needs to focus. This probably should have been #1. Oh, and it referred to Saint Mary again. See #11, and how come you're still not bowing?
15. Mary needs a bit of independence. Who doesn't?

Mad scientist on Google Maps

A mad scientist zaps his neighbors with a love laser!


View Larger Map

You can also see a parade, a marathon, and a garage band. Supposedly there is also a sword fight and a heroic rescue, but I can't find them. (If you spot them, let me know.)

This neighborhood certainly has a sense of humor. Here's how they did it:

The search engine we've all been waiting for ;)

My personalized TV dinner

My personalized TV dinner, originally uploaded by mdesive.

I'm at my writers group's annual retreat, which has a TV theme. Here's my homemade "TV" dinner. Yummy!

Stickin' my geek on

So far, it's been a week of fun surprises in the mail (I hope it continues!). Today's surprise came in an envelope addressed in my own handwriting. I actually wondered for a minute how the heck I'd sent myself something without knowing what it was, then I remembered I'd sent a SASE for Gmail stickers a few weeks ago. They're so cool! Of course I had to immediately put the shortcut stickers on my keyboard (there are actually several shortcuts I'd forgotten about and a couple I never knew). My 10-year-old self would have lurved the unicorn sticker, and obviously the people at Google know how much I love shiny things, since they sent me a shiny shiny Gmail logo sticker.

You know, I'd forgotten how much fun it is to get stickers. Thanks, Gmail team, for brightening my day.

This is me lately

Thus my New Year's Goal.

I soooo want to see this movie

The other day, I lamented that it's been at least six months since a movie has come out which I've deemed "theater-worthy" (meaning I have to see it in the theater, rather than waiting for the DVD). At least now I know the drought will end by May 1.

From dress to (Christmas tree) skirt

I sent a couple tweets about this awhile ago, but didn't get around to posting the pictures until now (Sorry!)

I couldn't find my usual Christmas tree skirt this year, and it was one I've been wanting to replace anyway (so I didn't look too hard), so I decided to make a new one.






Lil Girl had this dress which she wore for Christmas a couple years ago, and I hated to get rid of it because it's such a pretty dress. The thing I really liked about it was the way the tulle underskirt peeked out from under the overskirt.
















I decided one way to keep it out in the open & enjoy it would be to turn it into the tree skirt. I removed the bodice and hemmed waist back up.
















Then I slid it under the tree.

Voila!

A wonderful time was had by all

We had a great holiday party for my writers group today. It's such fun to get together with these gals (and if you know me and my hermit-y ways, you know that's something, coming from me.) We had a lot of good laughs, ate wonderful food and drank some great tea. Our gift exchange was a lot of fun, too. Here are a few pictures I took at the party.

If Mozart Were a Kid Today

Sad but true...

Wall-E Waffle

Wall-E Waffle, originally uploaded by mdesive.

Lil Girl got creative with her breakfast this morning. After I shot a few pictures with the phone and the nice camera, she said ';I'd like to *eat* my creation now." :)

My past life

I clicked through from The Write Life of Andrea & Corrina to this quiz, and this is what it told me:

I don't know how you feel about it, but you were female in your last earthly incarnation.You were born somewhere in the territory of modern Mexico around the year 1050. Your profession was that of a medic, surgeon or herbalist.

Your brief psychological profile in your past life: You had the mind of a scientist, always seeking new explanations. Your environment often misunderstood you, but respected your knowledge.

The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation: Magic is everywhere around you, even in the most usual, most ordinary situations. Your lesson is to understand this magic and to help other people to see it, too. You are a magician!

This is very weird. Take out "Mexico" and replace "Scotland" but other than that, you've got Morgan, the heroine of my work in progress. I do think magic is everywhere around us, but the profile doesn't apply to me nearly as much as it does to Morgan. I'm a little freaked out, frankly.

R.I.P Mars Phoenix

I've been following the Mars Phoenix Lander on Twitter for a couple months. It was cool to find out what was going on on Mars, but winter is setting in, and the Phoenix tweeted its last today (the binary means "triumph," according to Wired). Feeling loss over a far distant robot seems odd, but at least there are still other missions to follow.

I voted today...

I voted today..., originally uploaded by mdesive.

...how about you?

Did you vote yet?

Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet? Did you vote yet?

Well???? Did ya? What are you waiting for???

Make your vote count!

Darn, I never saw a ghost there!

But then, I was usually there when it was full of people...and I was usually more focused on vampires (there were a pair of velvet curtains there that I wanted to steal and make into something like Armand's robe in Interview with a Vampire. Oh, how I used to drool over those curtains. I wonder if they're still there...)



"At great personal risk to himself, brave local photographer John Thompson of T.J.’s Photo and Camera, entered the Eagle Theatre and snapped random shots hoping to catch one of the wandering spirits that haunt the historic Chadron landmark. Who is this specter that wanders the aisles and spooks the help?" - Chadrad.com

Is the Eagle Theatre Haunted?

Someday, I really should do a Haunted Theatre Tour. Anybody want to come with me?