you be the judge

The Lion and the Mouse

I love to look at book covers. Maybe, just maybe, this had something to do with my crazy dream to own a bookstore. This is the time of year when top ten lists about books, films, and music start sprouting. The Book Design Review has embarked on a quest to determine the Favorite Book Covers of 2009. This will be a three part series and you, dear reader can participate. Check it out here & be sure to vote!

Quotable - New still happens

"When I was little, I made memories. The school corridor, wider than a river, went on for miles. Nuns were all six foot and muscular, even the old ones. The Five and Ten was magical. Everything you wanted or needed was on one of its shelves. The railroad tracks just kept going and going as far as any of us could imagine, even to China. The woods were filled with adventures. Blueberries grew everywhere. The turkey needed two people to lift it out of the oven. The Christmas tree touched the ceiling and filled the living room.

Life is gigantic when you're little. It's is a surprise wrapped in paper and lots of ribbon. The sun is brighter, the snow deeper and the rain heavier. New still happens. Believing is easy."

~ Kat via Keep the Coffee Coming

gratuitous cuteness

Yesterday, I was in a crappy mood. Read some posts from others about all the things in their lives for which they are grateful*. I usually love this but still, I stayed grumpy. Then, I drove down to the river and went for a walk. Seems one of the tips I read at the Happiness Project does have some merit. Distraction. Feeling blue, negative, sad, lonely? Just connect with one of your passions and you'll get out of that funk. Nature's beauty is one of those things for me. And, really cute kittens don't hurt either.

* I'm often overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude because I have so much in my life to be thankful for. Life is good. Not perfect, but solidly good.

Quotable - game changing moment in film biz

"Women and girls are looking for material that they connect with just as much as guys and boys are, but the thing that blows me away about the success of New Moon and even The Blind Side is that the theatres were just packed with women not caring if the guys came with them. This was a weekend where the gals went in bunches and left the guys home cause they wanted to see this movie more than they wanted to see whatever their boyfriends or guyfriends wanted to see."

~ Melissa Silverstein, New Moon Brings a New Dawn in Hollywood

the undisputed best Thanksgiving film

Flying to Austin in a couple hours for Thanksgiving. Yee-haw!

Happy Thanksgiving & safe travels to you if you're hitting the road or flying the friendly skies.

that "alter ego" thang

I first heard about Levi Johnston's alter ego weirdness while viewing Sarah Palin's interview with Oprah. Apparently, Levi is possessed of whatever it is (extra ego?) that requires one to create an alter ego. While this is a strange and new concept to get my brain around, think I might have the answer to why Levi chose "Ricky Hollywood." It's because "Bobby Gorgeous" was already taken.

[click to enlarge]

A six-year old Pomeranian named Bobby Gorgeous hangs on to the surfboard as he competes in his 20lbs-and-under heat at the 4th annual Helen Woodward Animal Center "Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon" at dog beach in Del Mar, California September 13, 2009. The event helps raise awareness and money for orphaned pets while promoting responsible pet ownership. (REUTERS/Mike Blake) Source: On the Shoreline (The Big Picture)

Quotable - gratitude

“Gratitude is always a matter of paying attention,” she writes, of “deliberately beholding and appreciating the other.”

Gratitude is, fundamentally, about not taking things for granted, a kind of worldview. “Gratitude arises from a specific circumstance — being given a gift or done a favor — but depends less upon that,” Ms. Visser writes, “than on the receiver’s whole life, her character, upbringing, maturity, experience, relationships with others, and also on her ideals, including her idea of the sort of person she is or would like to be.”

~ From Dwight Gardner's article about Margaret Visser's new book The Gift of Thanks - The Roots and Rituals of Gratitude

jump around

Get up, stand up, come on!
Come on, throw your hands up

I'm done being sick with the flu. It's time to jump around or at least get up off the couch and move around.

Happy Birthday

"One day seven years ago I found myself saying to myself — I can't live where I want to — I can't go where I want to go — I can't do what I want to — I can't even say what I want to … I decided I was a very stupid fool not to at least paint as I wanted to."

~ Georgia O'Keeffe

That's what she said

"Girls, if boys say something that's not funny,
you don't have to laugh." ~ Amy Poehler