Pixar's Up and Visiting Dad

It's been a while since we visited my Dad with all the house hunting and all so today we headed east to Corona do go out to lunch with my Dad and see a movie.

For lunch we did our favorite Chinese restaurant Hong Kong. After that we headed to the movies to see either Star Trek or UP. When we got there Star Trek started too late so we opted for UP.

UP is Pixar's new movie. I have loved every single Pixar movie that has been mad and would consider many of them in my top ten of all movies. So I had high hopes for UP and it didn't disappoint. First we got a short called "Partly Cloudy" which was very cute and enjoyable. Then the movie started. I was crying five minutes into it and thought to myself.. "oh man this isn't good"

Here's a brief synopsis of the movie UP...

The 78 year old balloon salesman Carl Frederick finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that he has a stow away on the trip; an overly optimistic 8 year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell. You're taken on a hilarious journey into the lost world, with the least likely duo on Earth.

This was another Pixar hit. I can't say it was my favorite Pixar movie but that's not really saying much as all the movies are excellent. It was fun, witty, charming, moving and adventurous all rolled into one. The characters were endearing, especially Doug the dog who had a fondness for squirrels. If you are a fan of Pixar go see UP you won't be disappointed.

Read This If You Don't Want to Die!!!

Normally, I'd have a rough time limiting my pet peeves to one or two, but the spate of alarmist e-mails I received within the past two weeks helped me make a quick decision. Does anyone else get annoyed by the "Eating fruit after dinner will cause it to rot in your digestive track and make you deathly ill" kind of message in their inbox?

I get more of these than I think I should, and some of them more than once. My SPAM filter won't keep them out because they're always forwarded to me by someone I know. So I routinely receive warnings about drinkng a hot beverage after a meal to melt all that unhealthy fat in my food (all food goes to body temperature by the time it leaves the stomach so a got drink is still just a drink), personal ID info being stolen off of hotel key cards (a woman I know who owns a hotel says we're lucky if the card remembers how to open the room door), and the dangers of being kidnapped from a mall after someone sprays perfumed knock-out gas in my face at the local department store (can anyone even point me to an actual news article regarding this?).

Being a tad neurotic, I do my best to find an expert to refute these things. Then just for grins, I send that anti-alarmist information back to the original sender plus everyone on the list. Never helps, though, and I still get the same e-mails back in my inbox at some later time.

I suppose I could look at these things as being the tabloid news articles of the Net. But none of them is anywhere near as amusing as something like "65-Year-Old Grandmother Gives Birth to Alien Triplets!" so I open them, gnash my teeth, find a way to prove them false, and send the corrected messages on their way. Perhaps instead of using fact against fiction, I ought to just augment the fiction? Next time I get an e-mail warning me never to heat water in the microwave because it could blow up in my face, I ought to add to it that microwave-heated water also causes plantars warts and dandruff. Hmmm. Wonder if that would come back to me as another warning?

Alarmist e-mails are definitely one of my pet peeves. And please don't get me started on those things that want me to send them to 10 friends in the next 10 seconds if I don't want to get hit and killed by a garbage truck...

A Very Yummy Find..

While we waited for Harry's appointment with Lenscrafters at the Northridge Mall we went in search of some lunch. We found a new place that neither of us had ever heard of Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill.

It sounded good as we both love a good steak. It was a nice atmosphere and they started off with some very yummy rolls. When then ordered BBQ Chicken Breasts and grilled baked beans for me and Steak and mash potatoes for Harry... OMG it was some of the best BBQ I have ever had. The chicken and beans were wonderful. Harry really seemed to be liking is steak and mash potatoes. Of course the meal was a bit expensive and we couldn't do it everyday but man what a find it was worth every penny... we can't wait to go back.

Eye Sight

Today Harry informed me that he has been having vision issue the past few months. I was not too happy that he waited so long to tell me. So we went to lencrafters to have his eye sight checked. There was a slight difference in one eye of .25 improvement. So he decided to get new lenses, but they were having a $100 off sale so he picked out some frames as well and got a whole new pair of glasses. I think I need to be next as my glasses sometimes give me a headache.. if it's not one thing its something else.

Your Carry-on Must Fit in the Overhead Bin or Beneath the Seat in Front of You...

In many ways, a pet peeve is the best kind of pet to have. You don’t have to feed it or walk it or anything. Other people do that for you. My biggest pet peeve is people who, when they fly, believe they have to bring everything they own onto the airplane and try to stow it.

It’s called checked luggage, people. Look into it.

This isn’t the third world. You don’t have to bring your suit case, your overnight bag, your duffel, your shopping bags, your umbrella, your purse, your goat and two chickens on board.

This is a semi-round tube of aluminum where a half inch one way or the other could make the difference between an uneventful flight or a knee crushed by a drink cart.

Yes, I know airlines are notorious for loosing baggage, and I know that certain items are too fragile or valuable for you to check. But do you HAVE to bring on a tote bag with your jeans and t-shirts?

People, people, people! They even have Walmart stores in China now. Look into it and next time you fly, CHECK YOUR BAGS!

P.S. And don’t get me started on those people who HAVE to unclick their seatbelts, jump up and open the overhead bins before the planes reach the gate because they are SO important, they HAVE to be the first ones off the plane…sheesh!

News: Founding Farmers Isn't That Good

But is that really news? It is to anyone with a GWU email address! Tom Sietsema gave FF 1 star. Ouch. He had overly-zealous salespeople-like servers, while we barely saw our servers at all. In fact, we were starving. And waiting. Forever. For BRUNCH.

Here's what my few positive comments boil down to for FF: They have good jam, they can serve lox, and when they messed up badly they gave us a discount.

In the end, there is food that, as Tom said, is "not bad." But it's not cheap either, and it certainly does NOT come quickly (or hot, necessarily). The neighborhood is so desperately in need of restaurants that it'll continue to be packed and reserved well in advance. And green is so hot right now (as it should be).


Founding Farmers
1924 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Metro: Orange and Blue Lines to Foggy Bottom or Farragut West

Potbelly's: Smaller and Bigger Sandwiches Now Available

Remember when I said that Potbelly's sandwiches are not the most filling lunch? That was true. If you are starving for lunch, that little sucker won't last too long. BUT, it will cost you under $5, which is a small miracle in any city.

Potbelly recently rolled out "Skinnys" and "Bigs." The Skinnys are automatically on the thin-cut bread, and only have 1/3 of the meat and cheese that's on a regular. Supposedly. This is obviously kind of confusing. It reminds me of Starbucks, where if you get a "Skinny Vanilla Latte" it's made with sugar-free syrup and skim milk. I appreciated saving the breath it took to say "Non-fat sugar-free vanilla latte." But what if you want the regular syrup but skim milk? Then you'd say non-fat vanilla latte. They might double-check with you, as in, "The Skinny Vanilla?" To which you would reply, "No. Regular syrup, thanks." At Potbelly you'll probably be asked to clarify between just skinny bread and regular contents v. skinny all around--I was asked yesterday. Maybe if they called the new little guys Slims this bread-only confusion wouldn't happen.

MOVING ON. Let's compare cost and nutrition facts. My particular sandwich (hereinafter Sandwich) is skinny wheat bread with turkey, mustard, lettuce, tomato, and pickles. It has 5g of fat, 328 calories, 26g of protein, 1600 mg of sodium, and 45mg of cholesterol. It costs $4.50.

The TKY (that's Potbelly's slang for the turkey skinny) sheds 36 calories from Sandwich, along with 300ish mg of sodium, 4g of protein, and 15mg of cholesterol. The fat content is the same, somehow. I guess this sandwich could be more like a snack, or an accompaniment to a salad...or milkshake. I can't see myself ordering this little guy, but maybe it would be good for catering snacktime. Skinnys are $4.00 apiece.

On the other hand, if you enjoy building your own sandwich, you love Potbelly, but you are STARVING (or sharing with a friend), you can now order a BIG. The Big version of Sandwich would add 3g of fat, 266 calories, 16g of protein, 13mg of cholesterol, and 900mg of sodium. It'll set you back a buck more than the original. $5.50. Still a good deal.

I know it's not Cafe Atlantico, but we all need cheap lunch. We need to save our pennies and eat healthily so we can go to Blue Duck Tavern and eat their insane fries a couple times a year. OH MY GOSH THE FRIES. We'll discuss another day. For now, get over your shock that I actually care/think about calories/fat content to protein ratios.

Potbelly Sandwich Works
Around the Corner

Nuts!

Diet? I don't need no stinkin' diet!

So many PET PEEVES, so little time. Okay, here’s the latest.

Squirrels. And, no, I don’t consider them pets...just peeves! Not ordinary squirrels. These pests climb my almost three-story deck to feast on sunflower seeds meant for the cardinals, golden finches, woodpeckers and various other colorful birds that are, in turn, meant to entertain us.

Instead of yellow, red, and blue birds, we get ugly gray squirrels hanging on the feeder...feeding their ugly appetites.

It’s gotten so bad, that my husband spotted one the other day spread-eagled, all four feet clinging to the feeder...fast asleep! The brazen little varmint got so dang full, he had to take a nap!

Imagine his surprise when sweet dreams about rivers of acorns were interrupted by a plastic flyswatter bopping him on the head. Mr. Piggy Squirrel turned into Rocky, the Flying Squirrel.

I can just hear him complaining about the management: “What kinda B & B is this, anyway? Can’t a guy have some lunch and take a little nap in peace?”

Please...anyone, let me know if you have a solution, or if you just want to post your pet peeve of the week. Comments always welcome!

Author, Mary Cunningham is the author of the award-winning series, “Cynthia’s Attic.” The fourth book in the series, The Magician’s Castle, will be published by Quake, Dec. 1.

Locked and Loaded

After talking it over with Harry we both really love the house so we went for the FHA loan with BofA. We had to decide if we were going to use points or not. With an FHA loan you already have 1.25 points but we could go higher and get a lower interest rate. Again Harry and I talked and decided that we would go with 3.375 points which would add an additional $9,271.97 to our closing costs of $4774.00 for a total of $14045.97 in closing costs but it drops our annual interest rate to 4.875%. We did the math and it will take us 4 years and 1 month to break even but then after that every payment will be saving $187 in interest every month. Another thing about FHA loans is that home owner taxes and insurance are built into your monthly payment. With conventional loans you can opt not to include them and pay them bi-annually. So with our house payment, mortgage insurance, home owner insurance and taxes our monthly housing payment will be $2,054.20 a month, but will include everything for the house. And in 4 years 1 month we lose $113 a month dropping our payments down to $1941.20 for the remaining 25 years.

So we started the process of our loan, I'm sure I'll be approved. Next up are well, septic tank and house inspections and then appraisal. And if all goes well the house will be our at the end of July. I'll keep you posted.

I grew up in a small sleepy town outside of Philadelphia and became a lawyer because people told me I couldn’t make a living as an artist. But I was always looking for a way to express my passion. I traveled the world and visited over 250 museums looking for inspiration to help me develop a unique artistic idea.

Meanwhile I had acquired major carpentry skills renovating an 1860’s house in the Adirondack Mountains of New York with my wife in a kind of homesteading experiment. I tried my hand at script writing and novels but I found my personal passion when I discovered the works of Piet Mondrian, minimalist paintings featuring bright primary colors, and Ellsworth Kelly, whose paintings broke out of the rectangular mold and also often used bold bright colors.

So I began creating complex wood structures in 3 dimensions, representing important and widely recognized cultural symbols, like hearts, peace signs, Adam and Eve, stiletto heels, sports cars, and more. These wood frameworks often take many hours to conceptualize and even longer to construct, employing as many as 67 specially cut pieces of wood, 140 saw cuts including 53 curves and angles other than right angles, 236 pilot holes for 236 screws, and 12 bolts and nuts and 24 washers to assemble the various parts into the completed shape. I use a variety of tools to create this framework so it is not only strong, but lightweight. Then I evolved techniques to stretch artist’s canvas over these unusually shaped internal frameworks. Then I choose carefully the right colors, shades, and textures to enhance the meaning of the symbol and engage and excite the viewer.

The work can be tedious and frustrating, but the end result gives me the creative satisfaction I have craved all my life.

To see some of my work, please visit my website at www.jayrolfe.com/.

On the Road Again

Well after yesterdays little panic attack, today seems to be going better. Been on the phone and computer dealing with finanacing this manufactured home. Got a hold of our BofA loan rep and she informed me that BofA can do a loan for a manufactured home but it's not a conventional one. Instead it's something called FHA Loan. In short it's the same kind of loan as a conventional one except you have to pay mortgage insurance regardless of the amount you put down. The good news is you only pay for five years and then you can drop it. So if we go this route will be paying roughly $10,000 more dollars then we would with a conventional loan which we will not get if we want this house.

The other option that Marie came up with was to do several loans, she found someone who will loan our a large chunk of the money but not all. So we would have to find a second person to loan the rest of the money and of course a second home loan always has a higher percentage rate.

Need to talk with Harry but I think we are going with the FHA loan... I'll keep you posted.

My Pet Peeves

It really irks me when I go to a buffet and see people dip the serving spoons into the dishes, spoon food onto their plates, return the spoon,then lick their fingers, then pick up the next serving spoon and do it all over again. AND IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME!! Honest, these are normal-looking, clean-cut, well-dressed adults. Why they lick their fingers as they go, like a cat, is beyond my understanding. I want to run up to them and say, "WHY DON'T YOU JUST LICK ALL THE HANDLES??? IT'S THE SAME THING!!!" They must think they get a little bit of food from the handle on their hands, so they think they will be clean and lick it off. Yuck! What a disgusting and unhealthy habit. Just watch. You will see this - it happens all over this civilized country in buffets. Bottom line- after you've filled your plate, think of everyone's saliva on your hands: Go to the restroom and wash your hands before you pick up that dinner roll or chicken wing or slice of pizza or taco shell.
My second pet peeve doesn't upset me as much, but it shows a sloppy attitude and poor use of the language. When someone offers a person a drink or something, and that person doesn't want it, they often say: I'm okay. NOT THE CORRECT ANSWER. No one asked how he or she was feeling. The correct answer is either "Yes, please." or "No, thank you." When I ask my grandchildren if they'd like an ice cream cone or a root beer float, sometimes they say, "Sure." Again, wrong answer. That sounds like they're doing me a favor and letting me make them a treat. To break that habit (undoubtedly learned at school) I now say, "Would you like an ice cream cone-Yes, please or No, thank you?" I think they're getting it.

Marlis Day is the author of middle-grade mystery/fantasy, The Secret of Bailey's Chase. Buy it at Quake or Amazon today! E-book version now available for your Kindle! Visit Marlis at www.marlisday.com or check out her blog at http://wwwmarlisday.blogspot.com

A Bump in the Road

Today I contacted the loan officer within our Realtor's company to see what kind of deal she could give us, maybe something better then BofA. Well a few hours later after talking to her she called me along with our Realtor Mary and said we have a snag. I thought.. OH NO.. Marie (the loan officer) pulled the title of our potential house and noticed that it's listed as a Mobil Home. And in H.U.D. (Housing Urban Development) it is listed as a Manufactured home on a permanent foundation. Which means the house was built elsewhere and brought to that location.

Well come to find out that in today's scary mortgage times banks and loan companies are not giving loans for Manufactured homes. So we are now scrambling to find someone who will finance us and this house. We have an inspection set for Wednesday and we don't want to pay $1000 to inspect a home that we will not be able to finance. I have a call into our my BofA rep to find out if BofA will finance us with this manufactured home. And Maire is searching high and low for someone.. keep you fingers crossed.. we may lose this home. :(

Why Do They Call Them "Pet" Peeves?

by Pam Ripling

Why do they? I can't answer that. Nothing sweet or cute about the things that bug me. But since you've asked, here's the short list of mine:


Guys who leave the seat up. Seriously. Did their mothers teach them nothing?

Barracudas in parking lots. You know who I mean. You’re waiting for someone to back out, even have your blinkin’ blinker on, and some rude yahoo comes out of nowhere and jams into the spot before you can get your foot on the gas. No matter how small your car is, theirs is smaller.

People who drink from the carton. The epitome of low class kitchen mates. Argh!


Someone else’s undone laundry clogging up the system. It’s in the dryer, it’s in the washer, it’s on the floor. Owner of said laundry is somewhere playing Warcraft. And I’ll bet all his guild-mates do the same thing.

Trying to order a Starbuck’s coffee and saying it out of order. “Uh, I’d like a decaf-grande-non-fat-latte…” Barrista calls out with smug smile, “Grande Latte Decaf Skinny…” And of course I still don’t have it right. They make me feel small and stupid. Should go back to getting coffee at the grocery store deli.

People at book fairs who say they don’t read. Huh?

The California budget crisis. Need I say more?

Teachers who assign homework on weekends. It should be outlawed.

And that’s only a few. You should ask me when I’m really cranky!

Pam Ripling is the author of middle-grade mystery, LOCKER SHOCK! Buy it at Quake, Fictionwise or Amazon today! E-book version now available for your Kindle! Visit Pam at www.BeaconStreetBooks.com.

So it begins...

So far today I have received several emails from my Mary, our Realtor that I had to print out, sign and fax back to her. I sent out our 3% check to the escrow company. Mary has set up an appointment with our house inspector, well inspector and septic tank inspector for next Wednesday June 3rd. Going to cost us about $1000 for all the inspections but it's well worth the money. Have to contact BofA, who I initial got my pre-approval loan through and see what the current rate is, then I have to contact another loan company and see if I can get a better deal. It's alot of work but I know in the end will have a beautiful house waiting for us....

....the adventure continues.

Cafe Atlantico

Wow. Was it the amazing company we had? The beautiful weather? The creamy vanilla syrup-laden iced coffee? All I know is that when I look at the pictures from Cafe Atlantico and think about our meal, I actually start salivating all over again.

Cafe Atlantico is part of Jose Andres' plan to make all of the delicious restaurants in the D.C. area have his name on them, muahahahaha. Jaleo, Zaytinya (I love those places), Oyamel, and Minibar are all his. You may remember him from the PBS special Made in Spain or No Reservations: D.C. Or maybe you've never heard of him, in which case--you're welcome, reader.

Why don't we do this old style, huh? A hit list. As F says, "SMALL PLATES! SMALL PLATES! SMALL PLATES!"

Tableside guacamole: Delicious. M doesn't like avocado (K, he's your 'cado-hating soulmate) so the rest of us pitched in extra oomph and finished it without his help. Cilantro, some hotness (we got "medium" and it was perfect for me--the weak one), tomatoes, onion, and lime. Perfect.



Sopa del dia: The tomato bisque with chipotle peppers was good, but not amazing. If I were J I would've downed most of the shot glass in one...shot? But he didn't. And then it got kind of cold, which was sad.

Coconut rice, crispy rice, and ginger: I liked this dish, but not everyone did. It was almost like a funky rice pudding with a floraly-vanilla scent. This dish is on the bigger side of the ones we had, so keep that in mind if you order it.

Fried egg w/mashed black beans and pork: Awesome. We also took the liberty of adding the leftover beans from this dish to bites from other plates--delightful.

Mushrooms w/egg 63 degrees (celsius, folks): Pretty good.



Conch fritters: These were really interesting. The inside was liquid-y and hot, the flavor earthy and somewhat indescribable beyond that. Not seafood-y tasting. Intriguing. I'd like to go back and get them again.



Fried egg with Veracruz sauce: Not our favorite. Not special.



Carne asada: Good, but plain. And too safe. F says too much sauce!



Jicama-avacado ravioli: Almost like a summer roll outside, very thin (not crispy): We liked this fresh and crispy dish, but J wished it was more like a traditional ravioli. Fellas and their pastas...



Scallops: Scallopy. Nothing incredible here.

Pan dulce w/cinnamon syrup: (Run-on sentence about to commence): Hiii, it's like the silkiest most decadent while still being small totally soaked French toast you've ever had. Mmmmm wanting more. Now.

Seared crabcake: What's not to like?

Huitlacoche & wild mushroom quesadilla: Huitlacoche was described by F to the rest of us as "diseased corn." Sounds delicious, right? This was SO YUMMY. I LOVE DISEASED CORN TUMORS.

Pineapple unagi w/avocado sauce: Eel! So good!

Porkbelly confit: A+ from the crowd

I'd love to go back to Cafe Atlantico, especially for brunch. It was awesome. Sure, you can get the tasting menu, but we sort of did our own version, choosing the particular items that we wanted. Customized. Perfected. Picky, some would say. And DELICIOUS. Our company was unbeatable. Even our drinks were yummy. I had an iced coffee that I thought would send me straight to heaven.

Cafe Atlantico
405 8th St NW
Metro: Green/Yellow to Archives, or G/Y/Red to Gallery Place/Chinatown. Or Fed Tri. Or Metro Center. You know, it's just sort of near everything.

You Pokin' my Pet Peeve?

My biggest pet peeves are really bad stories. I know, that’s obvious coming from a writer, but hey, I wouldn’t be one if I hadn’t accidentally decided to judge books by their covers alone. (Big Mistake!)

Not just books, I’m talking about stories in general. Like movies. I absolutely despised “She’s So Lovely.” If it weren’t for the magnificent talent of Robin Wright Penn, hubby Sean Penn and John Travolta, I would have let my son use the DVD for target practice.



The way that movie ended made me want to write to all three actors and beg they never bring such an awful story to the big screen again. We had Ed Wood for that.

Great actors only make you pay attention in hopes the story actually turns out great. Sort of like listening to a long joke that ends on a craptacular punchline.

Legends of the Fall, Titanic and Million Dollar Baby are others I won’t watch again—all for a very different reason. The endings. Now, I don’t want to give any spoilers here, but I am a totally happily-ever-after kind of gal and those were five-hanky movies.

Then you’ve got the cop out ending that makes you wonder if they lost the last few pages of the script and decided just to wing it. I like movies that make you think, but gosh—save me from the ones that make me not know what to think! Give me some kind of closure. It’s like being robbed—only you don’t know what was taken.

Give me a great story, with a triumphant ending, and I’m a happy camper. Mess with my heroes and heroines, and watch out—you’ve just poked my pet in the peeve! Does it poke your pet peeve too? :)


J.R. Turner is the author of the Extreme Hauntings series. The first book, DFF: Dead Friends Forever is available at Amazon.com, Kindle, Fictionwise, and Echelon Press.com

WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!

At 3:01 today Harry and I became Home Owners. I got a call from Mary our Realtor and the first thing she said was Congratulations. My mouth dropped open and I said.. you're kidding me. The home owners accepted your offer. There were not counter offers other then instead of the 45 day escrow that we requested they asked for a 60 day escrow which is even better for us since we still have four months under our current lease. So Harry and I are now home owners.. of course we still have a lot to do, inspections and appraisals but if all goes well in about two months we will official own the house. Both Harry and I were stunned with the news. After the phone call we went back to watching TV with stupid grins on our faces, every once in a while I'd poke him and say, "We're home owners" and they we laugh.

Let's hope for a smooth escrow.. I'll keep you posted.

BTW you can see more pictures of the house here.

Where To?

Let's face it...there really isn't a facet of life that computers haven't infringed upon. The GPS is a prime example of this. You don't have to call where you're going to ask for directions, or even download a set from Yahoo! maps. All you have to do now is plug in the address to this cute little talking box on your dashboard, and away you go.

That's the way it's supposed to work, anyway. My GPS, formerly known as Harrison, is, as are most of the things that are associated with me, a few steps outside of the norm. Harrison and I have gotten into rather heated arguments on virtually every trip we've ever gone on together. I imagine it would be rather amusing to be in a car passing me on the highway, watching me scream red-faced at my windshield.

Harrison: In .2 miles, take ramp on right to Rt. 22 west.
Me: No, Harrison, I told you already. I don't WANT to go on the highway. I want to go the back way, the way we went last time, remember?
(Passing ramp.)
Harrison: Recalculating.
Me: There ya go. You'll see. This way is so much easier.
Harrison: In 500 feet, make left, then stay right to take ramp to Rt. 22 west.
Me: NO, Harrison. We are going the back way. 309 all the way. It's Memorial Day weekend, for crying out loud, we're not going on the highway, it's suicide.
Harrison: Recalculating.
Me: Got it now?
Harrison: In .3 miles, make right, then make right.
Me: Harrison, we are NOT turning around. No highway. NO.
Harrison: Recalculating.

And so on. But Saturday...Saturday was the final straw. Saturday was the day when, beyond taking control of my directional destiny, Harrison tried to take control of my retail destiny.

On my way home from a friends house, I decided to stop at Lowe's to pick up a ShopVac, after the horrendous flooding that happened in my basement last week--Lowe's specifically, since Home Depot doesn't offer the ShopVac brand. I looked up the address in my phone, which was 2650 MacArthur Road, entered it into my GPS, and began driving. Remember that address; it'll be important later.

As is usual with Harrison, I had absolutely no idea where he was taking me, but I knew enough to be confident that he would, at least, get me within a stone's throw of my destination. But when I finally recognized where I was...well, something was wrong. Then Harrison spoke up.

Harrison: Arriving at destination, 1270 MacArthur Road, on left.

Ladies and gentlemen, would you like to know what exactly is at 1270 MacArthur Road?

Home Depot.

I did not search on Lowe's or home improvement stores in my GPS. I input the EXACT ADDRESS, 2650 MacArthur Road, into the system. There is absolutely no reason why Harrison would get confused as to which home improvements store I was looking for, since I didn't say anything about a home improvements store. And I find it to be a little too coincidental that, on this road, where there's a store every 500 feet for about four miles on each side of the road, it would "accidentally" misdirect me to the only other home improvements store on that stretch. Apparently Harrison not only realized that I was trying to go to Lowe's, he decided that Home Depot would be better for my needs.

I hate computers.

Oh, and P.S.--Harrison's name is now Hal.

Buy Surviving Serendipity at Amazon or Quake Direct!

No Word.. well kind of

Got a text from our Realtor today letting us know that the home owners and their realtor were getting together tomorrow to go over our offer.. so we wait.

Re-Inventing the Wheel

So here I am folks, rapping up the week of teen-inventors. I’ve been running circles around my PC, driving myself crazy trying to come up with reasonable and fun blog. Why am I not writing about a group of teens in Utah who invented a new automotive air conditioning system, using Peltier chips? I don’t like to write about something that’s already covered on the Internet just for the sake of having something to write about.

I must warn you though. DON’T take everything I write serious!



My son (nineteen) is an inventor; just look what he built at age eleven. It took me a few minutes to find it in the garage which is full of his inventions. He is very good with his hands ya’ know.

I wish he could fix our car though. I got a phone call from the dealership this morning. They are saying the repair will be costly due to a missing throttle actuator and control module. The car was garage kept. I have no clue how these parts could have ended up missing. I think they are trying to rip me off.

Back to my son. Currently he is working on something very nifty and he said this device will take care of a lot of problems and might even fix the car once and for all. When I tried to peek at it to take pictures for the blog he got very mad and slammed the door in my face. “It’s a surprise.” He yelled through the closed door.

What I did see though was a circuit board taped to five, ten inch, pink looking sticks that had “CAUTION” printed on them. Some wires leading to a battery pack.
I’m very proud of my son and I understand his explosive temper when I tried to get some pictures. I mean somebody could be trying to copy his invention if I had uploaded pictures here, right?
Did I mention his new invention is remote controlled?

I made up the part with his current invention and the broken car. Hope you got a good laugh out of it. Did you catch it?


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Making an Offer

At 5pm today Harry and I went to our Realtor Mary's office. We had decided to make an offer on the first house we saw in Agua Dulce. They were asking $369,900 so we put in an offer for $355,000. They have three days to accept, counter offer or decline... now we just wait.

Even though this is our second offer on a house our first one was really a back up offer and we knew it wouldn't lead to anything.. this one may actually lead to use buying a house. It's very stressful trying to figure out if this is the right house for you. I mean it feels like the right house, we like the area, we like the house's outside, we like the land, we like the inside of the house. Only thing that we really don't like it the distance to our friends, family and work. But we figure friends and family can come to visit on weekends and get away from the city. I'm sure I'll get use to commuting to work. I do have my Books on CD so I'll just get to enjoy those more. Of course all this worrying can be for nothing as we haven't gotten the house yet..... just breath.

House Hunting

Today Harry and I went House Hunting again. Up at 9:30am and went over to the Mary's office. We were checking out 3 houses up in Agua Dulce and one house in Winnetka. First we went up north and checked out the first house in Agua Dulce. It was a 3 bedroom and 2 bathroom house, located on a hill and had some beautiful views. This house is located on 2.2 acres of land. The bigger part of the land is a downhill slope and of not too much use but there was still a fair amount of land that we could use to expand the house if needed. This house was great inside and out and it definitely going to be put on our "maybe" list.


We then checked out the second house. This house was on 10 Acre land, but the house itself was pretty much a disaster. This house needed much more work then a fixer upper...it needed a complete tear down. The only reason to consider that property would be for the land. But for that, the price was way too high and neither Harry nor I intend want to become farmers anytime soon. So we removed that house entirely from our list.

We then went to house number 3. This house was okay and had 3 bedrooms. Neither Harry nor I felt that this would be the right house, although it had a really nice open floor plan, that we both liked. One thing we didn't like about this house is we didn't know where the property line was. There was small western town built right below the house and we weren't sure if it was on the property or part of the house down the road. So we moved on to the final house of the day.

The house in Winnetka had 3 bedrooms and was absolutely beautiful. It was located on a 8000 square foot lot, in a nice and fairly quite neighborhood. Of course it wasn't as secluded as the first house we saw. Overall a really nice house but I knew Harry really liked the open space more secluded house and to be honest so did I. So we never really consider this one.

So that was our house shopping day. We really liked our first house. It was a bit of a drive but was it worth it to have a nice piece of land and be in a very quiet and secluded neighborhood. As we drove back to Mary's office Harry and discussed it. I knew he wanted it and he said it was up to me as I will be doing more the driving. I came to the conclusion that it was right for me as well. It's everything we would want in a house. But before we made the offer we went home for a few hours and planned to meet back up at our Realtor's office at 5pm.. We would then make our decision.

Listening Time IV

"Eat food. Not much. Mostly plants." That's Michael Pollan, investigatory journalist who has (whether or not this was intended) turned into a food activist. Whether you agree with him doesn't make what he's saying less interesting. We do things he doesn't like (buy bagged salad--but he makes me wish I didn't), but other things he does like. I see where he's coming from.

Anyway, he was on Leonard Lopate, one of the best interviewers in public radio. Find the link here to hear from the man himself, the "vegetarian before 6pm."

Stretch Yourself. . .

Teen inventors, teen creators, teen thinkers. Essentialy, they're all the same, coming up with new and creative ways to solve problems and have fun. The thing is, every teen has it in them to make something.

But where do you start? Some schools have classes you can take, i.e. industrial technology (IT), wood shop, and even automotive technology. All of these classes allow you to take things apart, put them back together again, and even build completely new things! At my high school, I am lucky enough to be in the Project Lead the Way program which focuses on teaching engineering skills.

Most projects involve designing and and building a structure or machine to suit a problem. Below is a video of one of our recent projects. We had to build the most efficient bridge in the class. It had to weigh as little as possible while holding as much as possible. The bridge itself is made of balsa wood and the load deck is made of fiberglass. The metal piece hanging down is attached to a bucket. Weight was added to the bucket until the bridge broke. This bridge placed 5th out of the 12 bridges in the class.

But the great thing is this, you don't have to wait! You can use you creativity outside the classroom every day. So get out there and let's see what you can build!

Iris Black

enter Sam's Space now!
read Just One of the Guys!

Star Trek Figures

I swore I wouldn't be buying any of the new Star Trek figures, but after seeing the movie and told Harry I think I need to buy these figures. And today on my lunch I decided to stop into Toys R Us and take a look and see what they had. Well there was a huge Star Trek display. For the new action figure they come in 3 3/4" , 6" and 12". I liked the 12" ones because they had the most details... but as of now the 12" figures had characters for Spock, McCoy, Kirk and Old Spock. I wanted the entire crew. So it was either 6" or 3 3/4". I went with the 6" because they were the next best with details. I told myself I would only buy them if they had all 9 figures... well they had all 9 so I bought them all. It was kind of funny as the sale lady asked if I needed a gift receipt and I said no that they are for me. She then handed me a bag and said you want to bag them I don't want to feel the pressure of bagging these for a collector.

So now I own all 9 of the 6" Star Trek figures. Luckily the 6" figures didn't have a transporter or bridge set like the 3 3/4" ones.. now I must resist buying those. Ugg the life of a collector.

Steamy Creativity

Wait...What did you think I meant?

With each passing day, teens are given more opportunities to express themselves creatively. The internet is full of limitless ways for today’s teen to be creative. Blog away, you can say whatever you want on your own blog and not only is it fun and easy, but it’s free too! Being the astute young person that you are, (I mean you’re reading this blog right?) I’m sure you’re already aware of this. My point is go crazy with it. Think outside of the box. Don’t try to copy other people’s blogs. Do what you want to do and what fires you up the most.



I’m going to take this moment to showcase one of my favorite creative oddities on the web. While I hate leading you to another site, check out http://brassgoggles.co.uk/blog This wonderful little blog is made by some good ole chaps in the United Kingdom. The focus is to highlight people’s creativity from around the world when it comes to all tangible things steampunk. Here you will see home made machines, fashion, art, toys, and generally anything and everything that can be converted to look steampunk in style. By the way, yes this laptop works.




In my latest young adult short stories, tentatively called “The Young Alchemists”, I too celebrate the creativity of teens (With a steampunk emphasis of course) through my characters Knox Wallingford, and Lizzy Strauss who themselves are creative diamonds in the rough. As amateur inventors these two unlikely friends find common ground not only in their idols but in their love of making things.



So go forth! Make something, a blog, a website, or an organization to petition the local government to get out of school early. Whatever you do, always make sure it is you and hopefully you have found some of this week’s blogs on Teen Seen not only entertaining, but inspiring.

Nick Valentino

http://nickvalentino.blogspot.com

Happy Anniversary Daisy

Today four years ago we got our little miss Daisy. She's come a long way from this scared unapproachable skinny thing. She can drive me crazy sometime but I couldn't imagine my life without her unconditional love.

So Many Ideas....

So many awesome ideas for stuff we all know and love came from young inventors.

Did you know that...

* George Parker, a founder of Parker Brothers, home to old favorites like the Monopoly game, created his first game at age 15?

* Here's a cool trivia question - Can you guess the length of time of the longest Monopoly game played? (Answer is at above link.)

* Frank Epperson was only 11 when he invented the first Popsicle.

* Don't forget that the creators of Google, Facebook and MySpace were all under 25.

It's never too late to invent something and be creative. Who knows where it will lead?

Fun Stuff to Do:

* Check out these fun Monopoly facts - and get a free Monopoly screensaver, too

* Learn about other inventors at The Inventor of the Week

* Read about more interesting inventions by young inventors

-- By Chris Verstraete, whose 13-year-old character, Sam, in Searching For A Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery, invents nothing but excuses...

Getting My Hopes Up

Today our Realtor IM'd me and said "They accepted your offer on the Calvin house" This is the house that both Harry and I loved but someone put an offer in right before us. My heart started to pound. I wrote back "WHAT!! Really the Calvin home" I couldn't believe what I was reading. She then wrote "yes, as a backup" and my bubble burst. For a moment I thought the first offer fell through and they accepted our offer on the house. But I guess even though they have an offer in they still have to accept back up offers. So our offer was accepted and we are back where we began. Just waiting to see if the first persons sale goes through. Will continue to look..

V Trailers

I know I'm being a bit V obsessed but I was and still am a huge "V" fan of the original miniseries and series so I'm excited to see what ABC does with this re-boot.

Here are some trailers shown to the media.

Curly questions 1: Heaven and Morality

A particular type of religious person will always wish to believe that they have a monopoly on morality. I referred to a couple of these types last month in Jim and the Indians - you know, the type who use religion as an excuse to stop thinking. You've seen these people - they're often the ones wearing a beatific smile and vacant gaze, usually in conjunction with either a WWJD? bracelet, or a t-shirt emblazoned; "Ask me how to be saved!" They have all the answers to everything. Just ask them.

One thing that they will tell you without hesitation is that they cannot conceive of any reason that non-believers (such as myself) should feel the need to act morally. An old friend of mine, "Rebecca" was a prime example. "Why," she said, "would you worry about being a good person if it's all chaos out there? If you're not trying to get into Heaven, or to avoid Hell, then what reason have you got to be a good person? You can do anything you want, and nothing will happen after you're dead." Rebecca's chubby jowls wobbled as she shook her head obstinately. "If it wasn't for God, why would people bother to lead good lives?"

I didn't break it to Rebecca that she had just identified herself as both a moral and an intellectual weakling. What Rebecca still doesn't know, is that morality comes about in stages, and that she's stuck on the very bottom rungs.

Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) was an American psychologist who theorised that there are six stages (which can be divided into 3 levels) of moral development. In level 1 (pre-conventional), people orient their behaviour in such as way as to avoid punishment (stage 1) and then to reap rewards (stage 2). These two stages are known as Pre-conventional morality. In level 2, people come to an understanding of rules as social norms which allow them to fit in (3) and then as important in terms of preserving authory, law and order (4). Stages 4 and 5 can be termed as Conventional morality. Finally, an individual surmounts these orientations by first recognising the importance of social contracts of behaviour (5) and finally, universal ethical principles which can be applied for the greatest good (6). These are known as Post-conventional morality.

Worryingly, although all children start at Pre-conventional levels, only a minority of individuals reach Post-conventional morality. My friend Rebecca certainly didn't. Her argument (which, to give her the benefit of the doubt, she probably learned at Sunday School rather than formulating for herself) only served to show that she had no fundamental understanding of what morality is. Allowing fear of punishment and hope of reward to shape behaviour has nothing to do with morality at all - it's pure self interest along the lines of the carrot and stick approach. And, frankly, you can teach a rat to behave that way.

Poor Rebecca. She was not only stuck in pre-conventional moral development, she assumed everyone else is, too. She found it impossible to believe that I, as an unbeliever, would wish to behave morally, as there was no overt incentive to do so, or disincentive for running psychopathically amok. Far from religion being conducive to morality in this case, it actually stunted Rebecca's moral development by leading her to believe that the reason for being good is going to Heaven. Amen. Have a carrot.

I like to think that most religious people out there are smarter than Rebecca, and do good for its own sake rather than merely to moderate the consequences. Putting God into the equation doesn't have to cancel out morality in its true sense, but it can frighteningly distort the picture if the motives become mixed. In the end, how can you claim to be acting morally if the driving force behind your behaviour is self-interest?

Do you think religion is conducive to morality?

Channel That Creativity

Rather than channel surf - channel your talent into a solution for a problem or situation you'd like to improve. For example:

Teens have managed to harness the energy of hamsters to charge their cell phones. The nocturnal running might bother some, but it can be a positive for everyone.

And who knew the Bubble Wrap folks (Sealed Air Corporation) sponsors a competition for young inventors? In January they announced the most recent three - here's the link for their creative solutions. What cool kids! (and they won a trip to NYC plus prize money).



People who are not yet adults have all kinds of fresh ways of looking at life and coming up with solutions both functional and fun...you did know there's a kit to make the mentos/diet pop rocket easier, right? Steve Spangler did the marketing and all the pertinent lessons (so parents would buy with the idea that it's a teaching thing), but KIDS started the phenomenon.

There's all kinds of talent in YOU! You've just gotta find the right channel to let it all out (and you'll use your creativity for the power of good, right?)

Regan

who channels her creativity into stories like the Pixie Chicks and more from Quake and Echelon Press!

More V clips

Gives me chills.. I love Morena

V Clips

ABC just released two V clips/scenes from there upcoming pilot...

They look so gooooooood!!!!!!!!!

V is Back!!!!

I'm a huge V fan from the 80's, use to run my own V Fan Club. So when I heard that ABC commissioned a pilot I was very happy and then today we heard that they actually ordered 13 episodes for a mid season replace show during there 2009/2010 TV season.

ABC released 30 cast and scene photo.. you can see them here. http://www.visitorsite.net/

Listening Time III

Interesting NPR All Things Considered piece on the fall of the "Zion Curtain," particularly pertinent because we just got back from Utah! Look for some forthcoming postcards from the national park circuit, including Zion and Bryce, Moab, and then later Denver. In the meantime, listen to many podcasts, including this one.

Latecomer

I've been housesitting for the past 2 weeks and have done very little painting as a result.  In addition I never made the deadlines for Karin's DSDF Diana challenge, nor the one for the Masters Challenge.

I did finish the Companion of Diana e-v-e-n-t-u-a-l-l-y, but have to confess that I'm nowhere near finished the Masters one.

This is my version of Diana's companion (I'm not even going anywhere near the Manhattan taxis!)

Goodies Monday

Today when I got home from work there were quite a few packages waiting for me. First the wonderfully talented Robin Thorsen (Clara from The Guild) sent me some autographed photos for my Knights of the Guild Podcast.

Then I got a really cool business card holder for my new KOTG and Professional Business Cards.

And then I got our Knights of the Guild promotional items, Bookmarks, Magnets and Postcards.

Lot's of goodies...

Oh and we watched the finale of Survivor, and I'm so happy J.T. won. It was a shut out vote 7 to none. Folks couldn't resist his southern charm.

Teens as Inventors

Some people are scratching their heads at this title, probably thinking, "Huh?"

Because when the word inventor is brought up, a teen is probably not the first picture that pops into one's mind. Most likely, it's the picture of an adult that does.

But that is where one would be wrong. Because, all of you teens out there, you can be inventors too! One of the keys to being an inventor is creativity - the ability to think outside the box to form new ideas that have not previously been, well, thought-of or invented. And creativity is something that teens definitely have!

So I guess the message that I'm trying to get across here is that a person, or you, don't have to be an adult to be an inventor. One simply needs some determination to succeed. Remember, Thomas Edison didn't invent the lightbulb on the first try.

What about all you guys? What's your opinion on teens as inventors?

Alyssa Montgomery
Author of Where Are You?, Mr. Mysterious, and 9:53 PM (from the Heat of the Moment Anthology).

Foggy Bottom Farmers' Market

I usually walk through the Foggy Bottom Farmers' Market if it's happening on my way home, but the past few Wednesdays have been rainy; this particular day was no exception. I haven't really met a farmers' market I didn't like (even though there are vendors I prefer, or weeks where nothing looks good, etc), so this was no different. I felt like the goat cheese people were looking at me like they knew my secret hopes and dreams. [...to eat all their goat cheese.]

On to the goods. A lovely French-accented woman helped me choose my chicken w/red & green peppers empanada. I got it for J to have for lunch the next day, but then ate it myself. Oops. It was delish. The $6 price tag was hefty (right?), but I could smell it, so I had to have it. The pastries looked divine, but I really couldn't. After all, I've had a major self control problem around these cookies from the freezer. SO GOOD.







I also got a loaf of San Francisco Sourdough, and it was pretty good, but the outside was so crusty that--I kid you not--J cut himself while trying to rip off a piece. So there's a warning for ya. Use a knife, or prepare to bleed for your chewy, crusty sourdough.

The flowers are pretty, too.

Foggy Bottom Farmers' Market
Wednesdays, late afternoonish.
24th/I/New Hampshire NW
Metro: Blue and Orange Lines to Foggy Bottom

The Invention of Teen

I suppose when God did the whole Adam and Eve thing, He couldn't really be expected to consider everything. I mean, sure, there's a lot to be admired. Beautiful sunsets, stars, a beautifully thrown curve ball.

But you can tell He got a bit tired on the sixth day, which caused a few minor mistakes like the creation of politicians, the New York Yankees and people who don't wash after going to the bathroom.

And then He had some left over parts, which led to the platypus, an egg laying, duck-billed, beaver-tailed mammal with a poisonous spur and a fondness for reality television.

Most of all, it's obvious ... because of the way it turned out ... that He didn't think through one particular invention ... something we laughingly call, 'Teen.'

It probably sounded like a good idea at the time ... take a human at the peak of their emotional and physical being, strap 'em to a lawnmower or a dishrag ... and spend Sunday in the hammock.

But in this case, the chemistry just didn't work out as planned. He didn't figure on emotions ... a pretty good invention, itself ... if you're a girl ... accidentally getting all jacked up by something called hormones, which He had created to assist in growth and all that.

God's pretty quick on the uptake, so He immediately knew He would have to find somewhere to put them so they wouldn't be a danger to the family pets. So He created something called Junior High and High School.

These places were a sanctuary to store teens after they learn everything they really need to know ... which they learn in elementary school ... and makes it safe for the rest of humanity and the animal world.

(oops, I gotta run. My teen just got home ...)

Norm

www.fangface.homestead.com
www.fangplace.blogspot.com

Photo Shoot

After house hunting I met up with Jenni, my co-host on Knights of the Guild, at one of her friends places who happens to be a photographer. We were going to get some pictures taken of us for promotional use for our Knights of the Guild Podcast. Also we have had listeners interested in getting autographed photos of Jenni and I.. crazy as that sounds so will take one of these photos and get head shots made.

It was such a weird experience, kind of awkward, not knowing where to stand and pose and I pretty much gave the same big smile each time. I have never had any aspirations of becoming an actor. I love the entertainment business and work behind the scenes. But getting pictures taking because fans want autographed photos never crossed my mind when I started KOTG. Not that I don't appreciate the recognition, it's just not something I was looking for.

House Hunting

Today Harry and I started out day house hunting with our Realtor. Our first house was up on Agua Dulce, which is a bit further north then Santa Clarita. It's about a 45 minute drive with no traffic from our current house. But the house was huge, custom made, had many levels and so many rooms. It was beautiful on the side and in the middle of no where. There was one other house next door but that was it. From the kitchen it had a beautiful view of the valley below. Everything was fantastic and I would have put an offer in on it right then and there but for one thing. Behind the property were two humongous electrical towers. You could hear the electricity flowing through them. When we first drove up I thought no way.. but then saw the inside and considered it. But then again thought no way as if we ever wanted to re-sale the house that would be a deal breaker and we can't "fix" that problem. So next we went do a house in Granda Hills but it was on a busy street and next to a high school. After that we went to a house in Northridge but the area was rundown and the house was a duplex and needed so much work to make it nice. And finally we did one more house in Northridge and it was nice, but needed quite a bit of work and had a very small backyard.

So it was a bust.. well almost. I know Harry loved the Agua Dulce house and so did I so we are keeping it on our list and will think about it the next few days. After searching for houses we went back to our Realtor's office and put in a back up offer on the Calvin house that we really loved. So far the sale is going through.. but until it is sold we can hold out hope that it will fall through.

A New Truck!!!

Well since Harry got his inheritance, besides the down payment for a house he wanted to buy himself a "newer" Truck. He went back and forth between Dodge and Ford and finally settled on a Dodge Ram 1500 4x4. So he mapped out five different Dodge dealers and we set out early this morning. First one we went to (Canoga Park Dodge) had two Dodge Rams 4x4, lots of 2x4 but Harry wants 4x4. But the only issue is that these were new trucks and were priced $38,000 to $42,000 and well out of our price range of $25,000 to $30,000. Of course Harry sees it and says.. I LOVE IT in front of the salesman. We go on to tell the gentleman that we are looking for more of a used one and a lower price. Well they had one used Dodge Ram but it was in White and that was the one color Harry did not want. So the salesman really wanted to sale us the Truck so we went back to his office and he drew up some numbers. He first came back with a $5,000 off the ticket price plus fees (additional $4,000). Which brought the total to around $37,000 out the door. I told him that it was still to much and that we can't spend more then $30,000. Of course the guy laughed and went back to his boss. A few minutes later he came back out and said.. okay we can give you the truck for $28,000 (that's $10,000 off the ticket price), plus the $4,000 taxes and fees for a total of $32,000 exactly. Well we knew it was a pretty good deal but this was our first dealer and we really didn't want to spend more then $25,000. So I thanked him, told him we wanted to see a bit more but would be back.

Next we went to the Dodge dealer in Van Nuys and found out it was out of business. So we moved on to the Dodge dealer in Glendale and they had four or five Used Dodge Rams but all of them 2x4. We stopped for a quick lunch at Sizzler and then drove north to the San Fernando Dodge dealer and found out that it too went out of business. Next we drove even further north to Valencia Dodge. And a side note it was hot in the valley but it had to be 15 degrees hotter in Santa Clarita Valley. Anyways we found the dodge dealer but they had no used Dodge truck. We started to head a little north west to Simi Valley Dodge but I was tired and said instead of us driving around we should all these places and find out if they actually are in business and have used Dodge trucks.. so we headed home. Once home we started to look for trucks online. There were a few but the prices were $25,000 to $29,000 and they had 202 to 30 thousand miles on them. I turned to Harry and said should be just go get the brand new truck as it didn't make sense to spend a few thousands less for a used car. Harry of course said yes so we went back to our first dealer (Canogo Park Dodge) and started the process of buying the truck. Besides the $32,000 cost of the truck and fees we purchased a lifetime warranty for the truck for another $2,060 so in the end we paid in CASH (well a check). $34,060.00 for a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4.

This was the first time in my life that I was buying a new car but also paying cash for a new car. My heart was racing as I was writing that check for over 34,000 dollars. Of course Harry said just wait, with the house you are going to write a check for $100,000 dollars... great!!!