A very sad day in Hollywood

Peter Boyle passed away last night at the age of 71. My condolences to his friends and family during this difficult time. He will be sorely missed.

Yes, we're ok!

We were hit by quite a storm last week. I was off work on Thursday and Friday because of the ice and snow. We didn't lose power, but we did lose cable and the inernet Thursday night through this afternoon, which sucked, but gave me a reason to go through all my documents and stuff on the computer and organize them. I also ended up watching three movies last night because I was so bored. Thankfully everything's back to normal.

Sparkly codpiece, or Spamalot was awesome!

It was a toss-up between Spamalot, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, or Mannheim Steamroller. With cheaper seats for where we wanted to be, we saw Spamalot, and had ourselves a blast!

Myself, my family, and mom's friend Rosie saw the show on Friday afternoon at the Fox. It was my brothers' first visit, and mom wanted it to be memorable. We had good seats (Orchestra, OR05) that gave us a pretty good view of the stage. My brothers were impressed, and had fun wandering around looking at the architecture until it was time for the show to start.

One critic said he laughed from start to finish, and with good reason. All around, we thought it was the funniest thing we'd seen in a long time. It's not just Monty Python and the Holy Grail with musical numbers, they made it specifically for the stage.

They snuck in a couple references to other Monty Python sketches and even included a song from Life of Brian. The Lady of the Lake is given more than a passing mention; she performs a few songs as well. One character "comes out" (I won't mention which), wearing a sparkly codpiece and wild colors during the number wherein he reveals his true self. They even included the Black Knight, which translated very well from screen to stage. And as always, the French Taunters were hilarious! In the 2nd act, they didn't just break the fourth wall, they ripped it down!

The last night it shows at the Fox is tomorrow, but if it comes back, I definitely recommend going to see it.

Random Questions from Jess

1. FIRST NAME? Tara

2. ARE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? A family member

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Started to this evening (stupid PMS...)

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Sometimes. It's unique...

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey or chicken

6. KIDS : Just my boys (Pinky and Soot)

7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Sure!

8. There is no 8

9. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Yup, and a couple blogs

10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yup

11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Nope, too chicken

12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? I don't eat cereal

13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? More often than not

14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I can bench 50, but not for long...

15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Something with chocolate

16. SHOE SIZE? Depends, 6 1/2 - 7

17. RED OR PINK? Either

18. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I procrastinate too easily

19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? No one, really

20. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Nah, I won't worry about it

21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Blue jeans and blue socks, no shoes

22. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The air cleaner

23. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Aqua

24. FAVORITE SMELL? Lilacs, honeysuckle, and rose

25. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Lar

26. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Eyes

27. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Of course!

28. FAVORITE DRINK? Water

29. FAVORITE SPORT? Does yoga count?

30. EYE COLOR? Hazel

31. HAT SIZE? Dunno

32. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? When I leave the house

33. FAVORITE FOOD? Chocolate

34. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED AT THE MOVIE THEATER? I think POTC:Dead Man's Chest

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? I like warming up in winter

36. HUGS, KISSES OR BOTH? Both

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? As long as it has chocolate

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Dunno

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Dunno

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? "The Last Continent" by Terry Pratchett

41. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE? Phantom of the Opera (2004)

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Since it's technically Monday, last night I watched Scrubs and Parental Control.

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS: Laughing babies

44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? I think I've heard more Beatles songs

45. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Do I have one?

46. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? 3 March in St Louis

47. WHO SENT this to you? Jess

48. The one thing you like most about yourself? My eyes

49.Who is the one person who knows you better than anybody? Either my mom, my sister, or my husband

50. One thing you would like to say to those you are sending this to? Hello!

Cool band alert!

Thanks to a video on You Tube, I've been introduced to a band called Within Temptation, and the song on the video is "See Who I Am" from their fourth album The Silent Force.

As far as I can tell, they're doing pretty well in Europe, but haven't set foot here in America. If someone actually stumbles onto this group in any music store, let me know ASAP! ^_^

Happy Spooky Season!

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

One of the things we need to do to get m'hubby better is get him on a better sleep schedule. With our bedroom in the basement, and no windows where we were, we decided to move.

Well, sort of. Not out of the house, but we did switch things around at home by moving our bedroom into our living room, where there is a big window, and putting our living room in the bedroom. It worked out really well, and it took the both of us just a few hours to move everything. We left some of the stuff out to sort out where to put it the next day (books, movies, etc.), but we got the majority of the moving done in one night.

The sun comes in through the windows in the morning, making it difficult to sleep in too long, but that's what we're going for. The bedroom really feels like a bedroom now, and the living room really feels like a living room now. I like how this has turned out!

What we didn't do was move our computer desks; they stayed where they were (mine in the now-bedroom and his in the now-living room). As it is, we each have our own "fortresses o' solitude", so he can play on his computer, and watch movies and play video games when his friend comes over. I like that I can listen to my music without having to put on headphones when he comes in to watch TV.

We also wanted to get some more work done yesterday, so I cleaned all the curtains downstairs, which I had wanted to do for a long time, but never had the gumption to do (yes, gumption ^_^). We also cleaned the sliding glass door downstairs, and cleaned the "patio" (really just a big slab of concrete, but whatever), so it looks a lot nicer now than it used to.

It almost seems like we're starting to be more... responsible. Actually, I like it.

(Thank you gothfaerie4evaicons for the icon)

I finished the book "Phantom" by Susan Kay last night, and was very pleased with the way it turned out. The story is pretty much one big phanfic, but it's better than that because of the extensive research she did in order to write it.

I liked how the book was divided into the different perspectives, specifically his mother, himself (thrice, once in counterpoint), an original character named Giovanni, the Daroga (given the name Nadir), Christine (in counterpoint with Erik), and Raoul. Giving it the perspective of the characters in the book was a nice touch.

I have a tendency to root for the underdog, and he is the ultimate underdog. His face was beyond deformed, his mother never kissed him, he was beaten and humiliated, and anytime he was shown a little bit of respect, something got in the way and heardened his heart even more.

He lacked a normal face, but the rest of him sort of made up for it. His mask gave him an air of mystery. He was a musical genius, with a beautiful voice, talented hands, an expansive imagination, and an amazing mind.

I really don't know what else to say. I really liked this book, and wouldn't mind having a copy for my library, along with the original book by Leroux. Kay is a good writer and her research really helped to bring the 1800's alive. I'd recommend that Phantom phans read it just once. It's definitely worth it.

Updatedness

Well, the clinic called today with the results of Mira's blood tests, and everything that is supposed to be high is low, while everything that's supposed to be low is high. The first things we need to take care of are his pain and our sleep schedule, then we'll work on everything else.

I got to meet my grand-niece on Sunday, and she is so cute! She's a little thing, with big eyes. We're going to visit with their family next Sunday and go to church with them.

I decided to see if our library had a copy of "Phantom" by Susan Kay, which they didn't, but another branch did! I picked it up yesterday and got to over halfway through it this morning. So far it's really good. Sad, but I think it's needed to see why he was the way he was. I'll do a review when I'm done with it, which will probably be Friday night or so, depending on how much time I set aside each day to read it.

I've been working 1-6 for a couple weeks, which has been kinda nice. I get there at naptime, so I read a book until they wake up (I'm reading "Pyramids" by Terry Pratchett, another good book; I'd read "Phantom" at work, but it's a big book and won't fit in my purse very well), then go next door just in time for snack. I also noticed that I got a raise (a whole whopping 50¢) in July. Woo!

Already?!

Just on a lark, I decided to see when my brothers go back to school. Can you believe that they're going back this Thursday? I know that other schools around the country have been in session for a week or two now, but still!

I still can't believe that Polarbear is a senior this year! I remember when he was born, and now he's a senior. On top of that, my "baby" brother is a sophomore this year! Man time flies! *sniffage*

Anyway, good luck to all you kids out there that are headed back to school already (especially those already there). Have a great school year!

While the cat's away...

M'hubby is in Utah for a few days with his dad. There's a clinic out there that specializes in fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, so he'll get some tests done and we'll hopefully find out what's wrong with him.

Meanwhile, it's just us girls in the house (me, Milly, and her mom). I've got some candles going and some music playing, and I'm singing off-key whenever I get the chance. I love it. ^_^ But I do miss coming home from work to a big hug and a kiss from m'hubby. As much as I enjoy being semi-solitary, I can't wait for him to come home on Sunday.

What a storm!

We're all ok, no bodily damage during the storm, but we did lose a tree in the backyard that might have smushed part of the house, had it not been for the shed. We lost our power about eight or so Wednesday night, then got it back Thursday morning about four. Our A/C was making noise because it was covered in tree branches! So Mira and I stayed up until five in the morning getting the branches off the A/C so it would work better. I didn't work Thursday or Friday because we didn't have power. Good thing I had been going in an hour early the three days before, which covered Thursday and part of the Friday I had lost time. Unfortunately, we didn't have cable or the 'net, so things got rather boring around here very quickly.

Things were going fine until Friday afternoon about 1:30, when we lost our power again. Thankfully one of my brothers-in-law had cut away a majority of the branches in the backyard before that. Mira wanted to get out of the house, so we went out for about six hours (some places had power, some didn't) and got home to a cool house that night. Our power came back at six this evening while Mira and I went out again (Milly called to let us know we had power). Thankfully Ted Drewes had power and wasn't to busy so we could get some frozen custard. I have discovered that strawberry and Oreo make a great combination. Even the husb liked it! He also got some lemon and mint so he could have some at home.

My family still doesn't have power, so they're staying elsewhere for a while. But they're ok, Lar and her family are ok, we're ok, and my in-laws in the area are all ok. We still have our homes and our lives, which are very important.

Thursday and Friday were really good days this week! Thursday was a girls night with Jess, Von, Kristen, and Lar. Lar got me from our parents' house and we got to Jess's about the time Alicia and Rhema got there. I hadn't seen Alicia since Lar graduated high school and had visited with Rhema earlier this year. Moueska was there, but had to leave for another outing, and Rhema had some dental work earlier that day, so she and Alicia left before the rest of us did.

We ended up going to a pub & grill called McGurk's, and sat outside, which was really nice. There was a very pretty fountain behind our table with what looked like koi. We sat around for more than two hours talking and having a drink. We got there after the kitchen closed, so we stopped on the way home for chickenburgers, went back to Jess's, then Lar took me home.

My mom had called Thursday to see if we wanted to go see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest the next evening, and I was surprised that Mira actually wanted to go! So he picked me up from work, we stopped at Taco Bell for something quick to eat since we needed to be at the theatre before seven, and off we went! Mom met us inside to give us our tickets and to lead us to our seats. (Review later) I had to rub Mira's back a few times, but he sat through the movie and even decided to go out afterwards!

We splurged on Ted Drewes; he got one raspberry and one mint, and I got chocolate Oreo. He requested a lemon flavor, since it wasn't listed, and sure enough, they said they had it! So he had the lemon and mint which actually taste good together, and I had the chocolate Oreo and the raspberry, which also makes a good combo. We stopped for gas afterwards and went home.

He had some energy from all the sugar, so we set some hamburger patties out to thaw and went on a long walk. When we got back, we made our burgers and watched the season premier of Psych that he taped earlier that evening. It was a great show! I'll definitely want to watch more of it.

Now on to my POTC:DMC review. Let me start out by saying that it was a pretty good movie, which means I didn't feel like walking out and never coming back. It had its moments, but most of the jokes were built off of the jokes in the first movie, and it seemed too silly. The CGI was pretty good and the action sequences were well done, especially with the appearance with the Kraken. Some parts were predictable, but there were other scenes where what I thought would happen didn't even come to fruitition. I didn't expect it to end the way it did. By the way, stay through to the end of the credits for an extra scene. So I liked it, but it's not the best movie I've ever seen. I'm waiting for the third installment next year, so we can get all those loose ends tied up.

The flames at last consumed us!

Mom called me up last week, wondering if I'd be interested in seeing Phantom of the Opera on Saturday. Need she have asked? So I stayed the night Friday and Lar, mom, Rosie, and I saw the afternoon matinee. We were far back, and not totally in the center, but just a scooch into house right. Lar and I wished we would have brought binoculars, but didn't think about it. We said last time we saw it that we were going to dress up to see it again, but ended up not doing so. Maybe next time... ^_^

Our Phantom was John Cudia. He almost knocked Ted Keegan down to second on my favorite Phantom's list (in regards to voice), but Ted keeps the #1 spot because I got to hear his sexy evil laugh before the chandelier fell. John's voice, even though a tenor, seemed a bit deeper than Ted's, and that's what got him up there. I have a thing for baritones, and while John's not a baritone, he got deep enough to keep me glued to his voice. I just checked the Playbill from when I saw the show four years ago, and found out that John was Raoul when I first saw the show, and an understudy for Ted Keegan! How cool is that?

Our Christine was Jennifer Hope Wills. I have no clue where she originally fit in, as she's not listed anywhere in the program, except on the little cast change slip, but she did a good job nonetheless.

Kate Wray was Meg at our performance (cast change). I'm used to thinking of Meg as a young girl, and Kate had a more mature voice, which while lovely, didn't really fit the character of Meg, at least in my opinion.

Originally an understudy for Carlotta, Kimilee Bryant filled in the roll at our performance. I think she had a very powerful voice.

John Whitney was our Piangi. He hit and held a really long, low note during "Il Muto" and got a big round of applause when he finished. Lar says he reminds her of Ken Page; I concur.

Adam Monley was our Raoul, and did a really good job.

DC Anderson reprised his role from four years ago as Monsieur André.

Patti Davidson-Gorbea also reprised her role from four years ago as Madame Giry.

After being serenaded by beautiful voices, we stopped over at Ted Drewe's for ice cream and hung out at home watching funny internet video until Rosie left. I found a couple by another one of my favorite male singers, Michael Ball. I first saw him on the 10th anniversary concert video for Les Misérables as Marius, and have been in love with his voice ever since. It helps that I also think he's adorably cute. ^_^

Saturday was a great day!

Is Your Obsession to Phantom of the Opera Unhealthy?

You're in love! The beauty of the musical never ceases to amaze you! You love it, but don't obsess. You manage to lead a normal life! Wow! :)
Take this quiz!








Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

P.S. I have 16 Phantom-themed music videos on my You Tube favorites list.

Great Phantom Video!

If you like The Phantom of the Opera and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, then this one's for you!
It's amazing how many great videos you can find on You Tube. I think I now have eight or nine fan-made Phantom videos. Have fun!

My blog is worth $2,258.16.
How much is your blog worth?

Of bodices and bachelorettes...

I stayed the night with my folks on Friday night because they were going to the RenFaire and I wanted to go with them. They're also having a new roof put in their house, so we were up at six Saturday morning listening to all the banging and booming. I don't remember when we left for the Faire, but my sister and her family met us up there and off we went!

I brought the dress I bought last year, but only wore it half the time. It was so blasted hot outside! We had a bunch of bottles of ice that became cold water rather quickly. Somehow Whiteshark managed to keep some of the ice in his bottle the whole time. I went to Heart's Delight, where I bought my dress last year, and bought a golden-yellow bodice from them and wore my garb the rest of the day. I think my shoulders got a bit red, but not too bad. Thank goodness for the shade! My mom bought a flower circlet for herself and one for me, so my garb is about as complete as it's gonna get.

We got back home sometime after six and we had some barbecue and watched "Bill Cosby: Himself". Then Athene, Moueska, Lar and her girls met me at my folks for Athene's last weekend as a single gal (wedding next weekend!) and we headed to a place in The Loop called Saleem's. Lar and I split a grilled portabello mushroom plate and we saw a bellydancer perform. Bookie had heard us talking about going to see a bellydancer and she kept asking us when we'd see the ballet dancer. ^_^ I can't remember the dancer's name, but I think it began with an S. Anyway, she came over and wanted Bookie to dance with her, but she was too shy, so Athene danced with her for a few minutes. Even Bef danced in her highchair a few times.

After a quick stop at Bubble Tea, we headed over to Lar's to play games, but we were all so tired when we got there that we just hung out for a while and headed home. I hope I didn't get Moueska too helplessly lost when I gave her directions to get home from my place. For some reason, I had a whale of a time trying to remember how to get to my house from dropping Athene off. I think it was the heat...

I modeled for Mira when I got home and... needless to say, he's very pleased with the result. ^_^ He even took pictures! So I'll leave you with a pic of my feast gear. (I apologize for the face, as it was really late at night when this was taken.)

The Ren Faire Cometh!

Thank your provider!

Providers Appreciation Day is today! So if you have kids in daycare, whether in someone's home or at a center, be sure to thank them for all of the hard work they put into taking care of your children.

Yeah Toast!

*singin'* Call me (call me) on the line!

We finally got a new plan and phones over the weekend. My number is still the same, so don't worry about that. No, it's not a camera phone. I've thought about it since October, and I've decided that it's not that important to me. The only extra I added was texting. Once again, it's a pretty basic, stripped down phone, but at least it works. Like my old Panasonic (my first phone), I can assign a ringtone to each person and don't have to reset my alarm everyday.

My last one didn't work very well near the end because it was an analog phone in a digital world. But that's all at an end now, so if you need to get a hold of me, go right ahead! ^_^

Problems with my cell

I've been having a problem with my cell phone, as well as my mom's. I tried calling hers and I was told that it was not a working number. I tried calling my voicemail to see if maybe she left me a message that I hadn't received yet (my phone's not being very nice), and I got the same message!

I don't know what's going on (seeing as how dad's cell is okay), but I plan on getting in touch with her today (possibly staying the night). Hopefully she knows what's going on and we can finally switch to a new plan and new phones.

So in the meantime, if you need to get a hold of me, call my home number. If you don't have it, call someone who does. I'll let you know as soon as I can what the deal is.

Shopping Fun!

We had fun yesterday. Mira picked me up from work and we went to the mall to see if we could find any water distillers. We didn't, but we did end up splurging on some neat stuff.

We went to Sears first and found an ice-cream/frozen yogurt/sorbet maker, which Mira has been looking for for a long time now. We used it tonight and made a delicious sorbet from white grape juice. Unfortunately, he added way too much stevia and xylitol (alternative sweeteners), and it was way too sweet for me. Isn't that weird? I thought something was too sweet after one bite? I must be getting soft. ^_^

We also headed over to Borders so I could use the gift card one of my daycare families gave me for Christmas, and I got KT Tunstall's CD Eye to the Telescope. I saw the video for Black Horse and the Cherry Tree last month, and really liked it. I was able to listen to the CD before I bought it, which was nice. Mira also found some banana hand cream from Burt's Bees, which I got for him. I think it stinks, since I hate bananas with a passion, but once it's on for a while, the scent's very faint so it doesn't bug me.

Then we went to Bath & Body Works so I could find some hand lotions that didn't bug Mira, since he has a pretty sensitive nose. We got two hand lotions, Mango Mandarin and Black Raspberry Vanilla, and Lemon body cream. They all smell so heavenly! We also got some Lemon Verbena essential oil and a burner, and some Mentha lip balm. We used the oil last night and ended up making the whole basement smell like lemon. Next time we'll be sure to only burn it for a few minutes. ^_^

Finally, we stopped at the grocery store on the way home and bought some more groceries for ourselves, and ended up buying some frozen shrimp and some scallops. When we got home, we thawed some of the shrimp and dipped it in warm spaghetti sauce. It was so good! We decided to cook up some rotini pasta and add some shrimp to the sauce. Well, it was good, but not as good as the shrimp with just the sauce.

I'm going over to my folks' tomorrow to hang out, which will be fun. I haven't been there in a couple weeks, so it'll be good to see them again. Have a great weekend all!

Cute Overload!

The title says it all...

Update!

I had a great week before my birthday, so I told Mira that he didn't need to get me anything. We were able to go to the mall on Monday, eat pizza and ice cream, and I bought some new shirts. We also went out Thursday and I got some new shoes. Could you believe that we checked out seven or so different stores in the mall and couldn't find a simple pair of black pumps? WalMart had 'em though! We also visited with my folks on Friday, and my mom gave me the Corpse Bride DVD for my birthday. Yay!

Mira was able to go out because he started drinking distilled water and has been using baking soda instead of toothpaste. He read that fluoride can cause fibro-like symptoms, so we've stopped using as much as we can and he's been feeling better! He's not totally well, but he's getting there. We also noticed that my lactose intolerance symptoms weren't as apparent when using distilled water, so I'm gonna have to test it out sometime. Woo!

Now for some fun. In January, I posted a site called Aria, a website dedicated to Phantom of the Opera fanfics. I found another one this morning that was just too freakin' hilarious to pass up! If you like Phantom of the Opera, and you like Young Frankenstein, this'll rock your socks off!

Your Birthdate: March 3

You are more than a big ball of energy - you are a big ball of hyper. You are always on the go, but you don't have a type a personality. Instead of channeling your energy into work, you instead go for fun and adventure. Witty and verbal, you can have an interesting conversation with anyone. Your strength: Your larger than life imagination Your weakness: You tend to be pretty scattered Your power color: Lime Your power symbol: Lightening bolt Your power month: March

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Hollywood mourns the loss of

Don Knotts, who passed away Friday night due to "pulmonary and respiratory complications". He was 81. Our condolences to his family and friends during this difficult time.

My brother turns 17 today...

Can you believe he'll be a senior next year? Man, that's scary!
Happy Birthday Polarbear!

Phunny Phanfic

I found a website dedicated to Phantom of the Opera fanfics, and thought this one was a riot. Enjoy!