Marriage License by Norman Rockwell
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Franklin, TN, USA
Manila, Philippines
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Friday, December 29, 2006
Autograph Bug
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Long Ride Home--Peter White (Caravan of Dreams)
Remember when I ordered a few Mucha prints and then ended up getting a whole slew of them? It's like that all over again, only this time it's with autographs :-).
My Gene Kelly autographed picture arrived today and it is AWESOME :-)! I can't wait to frame it and put it on display in our hallway :-). See, what Steve and I do is we get actual movie posters of the films that we like then we hang them along our hallway. We currently have three movie posters hanging there right now:
I was trying to figure out where exactly to hang the Gene Kelly autograph when I suddenly smiled and quickly went on eBay.
We now have two more shipments on the way.
This one:
will hang next to the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon poster,
This one:
will hang next to the Memoirs of a Geisha poster,
And finally this one:
will hang next to the V for Vendetta poster.
In case you're wondering what the extra text is, it's Hugo Weaving writing, "...Remember, remember the 5th of November..."
I don't know yet if I'll win the Hugo Weaving autograph, though. The bidding ends tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: a South Park episode in the background--it's the one where they play World of Warcraft
You are The Star
Hope, expectation, Bright promises.
The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised
The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Deck the Halls--Mormon Tabernacle Choir (A Christmas Album) One of the best things about being married is that you get to establish your own holiday traditions :-). Don't get me wrong, I love all the Christmas traditions I grew up with, but now's the chance we get to make our own :-).
It makes it kind of funny that Steve and I didn't really think it through. In households all around the country, December 24 must be one of the more hectic days of the season. "Lazy" would not be the label for the day :-). What did Steve and I do?
Let's see... woke up... I made Steve pancakes for breakfast... then we took a nap (Steve and I are both getting over a cold)... after we woke up Steve got the Scrabble set and we played Scrabble in bed... then we watched "On the Town" starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra... then Steve walked the dogs... then ANOTHER nap... then dinner... then went to bed :-).
Isn't that awful? And the terrible thing about it is Steve and I actually kind of liked it :-). Sure, it sucks that we're getting over a cold on Christmas Eve, but we liked that we had the luxury of just being sick :-).
Maybe next year we'll plan it a little better--maybe have a ham or something to celebrate the day, but I know for sure that I'd like to start a tradition of watching Gene Kelly either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day :-). Watching Singing in the Rain, strangely enough, makes me happier than watching It's a Wonderful Life or A Christmas Story.
Current Mood: CC is listening to: I'll be Home for Christmas--Kenny G (The Greatest Holiday Classics) Saw this video while browsing YouTube today. I didn't realize it, but yeah, he's right--Pachelbel's everywhere :-)!
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Kelas (Let's Dance) from FMA: Conqueror of Shamballa OST I'd forgotten to post pictures of our blue-and-silver Christmas theme this year :-).
Here's a picture of the tree:
We have two fake doves on the tree, but if you look closely, you see *three* birds. Why is that, you ask?
Because in a moment of mischief, I perched our new white parakeet onto one of the branches so I could take pictures of it :-). It's so friendly and well-behaved :-).
And here's a picture of what our fireplace/mantel looks like this year:
Steve and I are going to have a fairly active calendar early next year :-). I'm really excited about it :-). There are some great shows lined up in the first few months of 2007 :-).
In January, we're going to see:
Swan Lake
In February, we're going to see:
Dance! Dance! Dance! - A salute to the great dancers of the 20th century
Spamalot - Needs no introduction :-)
Masked Marvels and Wondertales - A one-man extravaganza of breathtakingly beautiful handcrafted masks, original stories of courage and wonder, and outlandish feats of physical magic
In March, we're going to see:
The Blue Man Group: How to Be a Megastar 2.0 - you know, it's kind of hard to describe the Blue Man Group other than "intense." It'll probably be better to see a preview of the show: http://www.howtobeamegastar.com/video.php
Hollywood Spectacular - Music from Hollywood’s greatest spectacles, including Gone with the Wind, the Wizard of Oz, Ben Hur and more
(whispers) Also, Steve doesn't know this yet, but I'm considering getting dress rehearsal tickets for some of the other shows at the Germantown Performing Arts Center. See, for the more formal shows, they let you watch the final dress rehearsal on Saturday mornings for $10. Imagine paying $10 for a seat that's normally $50 and being able to watch the show in jeans. Granted, it's a dress rehearsal so they'll probably stop in the middle of a piece to fine tune it, but I still think it's a great deal. Besides, that would be an awesome way to spend a Saturday morning: great music and then a nice quiet lunch afterwards :-).
I was thinking of going to go see the dress rehearsals for:
The Iris Chamber Orchestra featuring Jason Vieaux (guitar): "Spanish Nights" - January 2007
The Iris Chamber Orchestra featuring Jon Kimura Parker (piano): "Rhapsody" - March 2007
Since we're on the topic of ballroom dancing, thought you might want to see this really short lesson on how to dance the Waltz. This is from the BBC ballroom dancing show called "Strictly Come Dancing."
Every time I see this I miss my ballroom dancing classes :-).
It really *is* all about the man leading. If a man leads the woman well (and she's actually willing to let him lead), he can guide her to do practically any step :-).
If you don't believe me, hear what the teacher that taught Pacino how to tango (Paul Pellicoro) had to say:
"Gentlemen...you want to look good and make the lady feel good as well."
In an Intermediate Hustle class dominated by male students, among them financial analyst David MacDougall, Pellicoro preached more directly his philosophy of partner dancing. As MacDougall recalled, Pellicoro damned the limp lead: "You have to realize, guys, that when a beautiful woman dances with you, she should think you’re God."
Viewers may have seen a bit of that in the film "Scent of a Woman" when Pacino, playing a blind man on a wild last tear, led a hesitant Gabrielle Anwar to the dance floor and tangoed the wind out of her sails.
That’s exactly what Pellicoro did...when he was auditioning to be the dance trainer and choreographer for the film. He led director Martin Brest’s startled secretary from her chair, put a guiding hand on her spine, pressed his palm to her palm and ocho’ed his way into film history footnote.
"When it was over," he says of that first furious tango..."it was like a roller coaster ride for her. She didn’t know what had happened. I swept her off of her feet. Not to flatter myself, but that’s one thing I can do in this life."
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....
Rest in peace, Matsui. We love all our hamsters alike, but you were the one that I was able to train not to bite. I'm glad you won't be sick anymore. You will be missed.
I've never been to the classical ballet before. Then I learned that the Moscow Festival Ballet was doing a one-night showing of Swan Lake. I like the story of Swan Lake and figured that this would be a great first classical ballet to watch. I was a little hesitant to tell Steve that I wanted to watch this--boys don't usually like going to the ballet. To my surprise, he said, "Sure, let's watch it :-)."
When I tried to get tickets last week they were practically sold out--the only tickets available were along the sides, and I didn't want to watch the ballet from the side. Then yesterday, when I was checking the theater's website, FOUR seats suddenly opened up right smack dab in the middle of the orchestra. I grabbed two right away, which is a good thing because when I checked again later in the day the other two were gone.
I also got tickets to Spamalot, which a musical based off of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. OHhhh I can't wait for THAT! It's not until February, so I got some really nice seats. This is going to be the view from our seats:
I mean seriously, how many husbands would be willing to stay in the bathroom with you and actually help you color your hair?
I had a haircut recently, and I thought it would be fun to color my hair and put highlights :-). There was only one problem: I'd never done it before, so I was a little nervous about it.
We used L'Oreal Couleur Experte, which is a kit that has 2 coloring sets in it: the first does the base color, and the second does the highlights.
Looking back, I wish I took a picture of it: me and Steve in the bathroom, I'm standing in front of the mirror and Steve is behind me, wearing the latex gloves and running the little mascara-like highlighting brush down strands of hair behind my head.
"You know, it's going to be really freaky if what I do turns out good," he said.
And it did. The strands he colored turned out more natural looking than the strands I colored. For him, that's a compliment. For me, that's just sad :-).
Overall though, it doesn't look bad :-). Next time we do this, we'll know how to make it more natural looking all over instead of in just certain spots :-)
Since it's been getting colder, boots are popular again. However, it's surprisingly difficult to get just the right pair of boots for me.
"What's the right pair of boots for you?" you ask.
Black leather knee-high boots.
"Lots of that around," you say.
Stiletto heel.
"Still lots of that around."
Square toe.
"Aye, there's the rub."
Okay, so you're probably not going to be quoting Hamlet, but you get the idea :-).
Square-toed stiletto-heel black knee-high boots are awfully rare. Every knee-high boot we've seen with a stiletto heel has a pointy toe, and every square-toed knee-high boot we've seen has a clunky heel.
My feet aren't made for pointy-toe shoes--I end up looking like the Wicked Witch of the West. And I definitely prefer the flirtier look of a stiletto heel over a clunky heel.
We'd been to JCPenney's, Dillards, Macy's, Sears, Payless, and Rack Room Shoes. Steve was so sweet and helpful--all the other husbands/ boyfriends were sitting on the designated "guy's bench" in the store but he was right up there with me checking out all the shelves and bringing possible boots over to me asking, "What about this one?"
We didn't have any luck, though.
I finally had to admit that I wouldn't be able to get them for a reasonable price in any of the local stores. So today I did something that I don't usually recommend: I ordered shoes online. After much hunting, I finally found a pair of boots at shoes.com which was a nice compromise:
Not quite a stiletto heel, but close enough :-). I was lucky to even find *this* pair :-). Normally $79.99, they were on sale for $49.99 and it was free shipping (and free return shipping if it's not a good fit) :-). They should get to me at the end of the week. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I won't have to send them back :-).
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