Next Week In Cora's Life...

I AM GOING TO DIE! MY PARENTS ARE LEAVING MONDAY FOR TWO WEEKS IN HAWAII!

D-8

(This roughly translates to: I'm going to be fully, entirely 100% "mom of three boys" for two weeks. *cry* And the garden is getting ready to be harvested, which means I'll have to pick, can, and freeze everything all by me onesy.)

I'm thrilled my parents have been married for 25 years, but... but... Two weeks away and across an ocean? Aaaaargh!

Help?

A Quote That Struck Me

"Tolerating evil is a crime." - Brigitte Gabriel

Don't tolerate evil.

That's all I got. 8 hours unpacking boxes has left me wonked and pretty well unable to walk. Ugh. Can I amputate my legs right at the knees? Please?

*crawls to bed*

So, Yeah... I'm a Geek

I counted up my collection:
42 Star Wars books
19 Star Trek books
9+ Other Sci/Fi books

I have just this tiny soft spot for Sci/Fi. Mom got me a dozen more books at a garage sale a few days ago. It was glorious! The most exciting ones? Two books from the X-Wing Series! I've wanted them for so long, and yet I've never found them. No longer. Mwahahahahaha! *evilchuckle*

If anyone wants, I can let you all know if it was good or not. 30 pages in, and it's pretty good. :-) But, then... it has Wedge Antilles in it. How can anything with Capt. Antilles be bad? (y'all can forget that I used to call myself Jadra Antilles during Star Wars themed "Make-Believe"...)




In case anyone out there cares, I also (in addition to the prequels) don't acknowledge the existence of ANY book after Luke Skywalker married Mara Jade. Roar. Never happened. And Jacen didn't turn bad. And Tahiri didn't turn bad. And Zekk didn't turn bad. Etc. So, essentially, I love Star Wars, but only select portions. As it should be. The rest I will take out back with the ol'shotgun and dispatch post haste.

Lego Star Wars for X-Box rocks.

Returned With Victories, Discoveries, and Various Insanities

First: Victory

Dress rehearsal on Saturday of one scene from the movie was SO TOTALLY AWESOME! I'd been given 3 hours by the directors to have all of Rosie's makeup done, but it ended up taking only an hour and a half. On set, I was personal assistant to Rosie's actress and touched up makeup and costume between takes. When/If I get pictures, you bet there will be some posted here! Masha (the actress) is a sweet young woman from Ukraine, and I look forward to getting to know her better. She is quite feminine in appearance, but I swear she's tough as nails. Quite inspirational! :-)

Next: Discovery

You can spend an eternity (at least it felt like it) picking two grocery bags full of peas and then shelling them... and end up with a measly 5 1/2 cups of peas to freeze for winter. Oy. This'll be a long harvest with me putting up food all by my lonesome...

Finally: Various Insanities

I'm writing a new book. Woo! *tries not to be overwhelmed* This is actually going to be a retelling of an old, old legend (which was made up a year or two ago by a friend of mine). He's written the whole story, but in narrative paragraphs. My job is to take that story come alive.

We'll see what happens. :-)

Irony is a Beautiful Thing

I love a good case of irony. I saw two of them yesterday.

My brother and I were half-watching the baseball game, and during the commercials (ick), we were switching to the food network. The show on food network was on desserts at Disneyland. They talked about the thousands of pounds of flour, sugar, and chocolate that went into making these desserts year after year. They showed us lots of happy children eating the desserts. And then it was time for a commercial break. Guess what the lead-off commercial was.Yeah, the Weight Watchers program.

That caused much discussion/laughter between us, and we didn't end up going back to the baseball game.

So a few commercials later, there was a lady who announced that she'd lost so much weight by eating more whole grain food! The commercial was for Cheerios or some other cereal. At the end of the commercial, it said, "And be sure to try our new chocolate flavored whole grain Cheerios!" *headdesk* Yes, eat whole grains filled with extra sugar, chocolate, and probably unnatural flavorings! That will make you lose weight!

*sigh* *headdesk again*

Interesting Experience

Have you ever felt like you stepped out of a by-gone era into this one? Yesterday as I went out to do chores with a long skirt* and big, white (stained) apron and head-covering, I felt like I'd stepped out of a time when women were taught to be more peaceful, feminine, and... pretty... into a world of rough and ragged lives where a woman's feminine and peaceful disposition is despised.

It was strange.

I like the old world. I like the old world where men do not swear before (or at) ladies, like what happened at work last week, when a man (I won't say gentleman as is my usual wont) directed the foulest language at me.

Something in me longs for society to return to where it was. And if a change can happen, it must happen with me.


*Yes, I did wear a skirt to do chores, which, if you know me, you know was in the past strictly prohibited by my father. Apparently yesterday he did not mind. So perhaps I will more often. :)

Ah, a Blessed Tuesday...

Today, I don't need to leave home for any reason except to run drive to the neighbor's twice to milk for them. Most people have neighbors a hundred feet away. Ours are, like, a hundred miles away. Okay, two miles. But I shall drive nonetheless. :-P

So my activities are attending my goats and the neighbor's goat, trimming hooves, and destroying an apron for the Rosie Movie. It will be much fun.

The idea behind the apron is that our nineteenth century (1800s) poor, little heroine's house burned down, she now lives in the barn, because she has nowhere else to go, being newly widowed, parentless, friendless, and she'd never let herself be a burden to a neighbor, because she feels herself unworthy. Months go by as she's fending for herself on the farm, going slightly insane with naught but her cello and rifle to keep her company. As I enter the story with my specialized makeup talents, she has decided she is going to die. The apron is the one she has been wearing these past months, and is stained, torn, and yucky, because she has no change of clothing. They all burned in the house. That's what I'll be working on.

First filming is Saturday morning. Eek! So exciting!

Myth... BUSTED!

Here are a few myths about farm animals that I would like to bust for you.

Myth #1: If the bovine has horns, it is a bull.
Truth #1: Females also have horns unless they are of a polled breed (such as polled hereford), in which case neither the males nor females will have horns.
Cora first found mention of this myth on an eBay item - a butter dish depicting a cow on the front, but the seller was adamant that it was a bull.

Myth #2: The goat has a beard; it must be a male.
Truth #2: Goats are not people and do not have the same physical characteristics as people. I have two goats with beards, and I assure you: they are most definitely female.

Have you busted any myths (farming related or not) recently? Or have you been duped by a myth recently? Do share!

Dear Washington Weather...

Apparently there is some horrible person out there programming our weather. 90s? 90s?!

Now I must go and die a painful, roasting death here on the surface of the sun that is currently masquerading as earth.

*Opens giant can of worms* Rights.

During the socialized health care vote/debate/civil war, I heard someone make this statement, and it has troubled me since.

"Health care is a right just like education is a right."

A right, eh?

What is a right? We have the right to freedom of speech. We have the right to remain silent. We have the right to vote. We have the right to bear arms.

I see a distinct difference between the right to speak freely or bear arms and education:
Speaking is something which we have complete personal control over. Buying a firearm and carrying it is something which we have complete personal control over.
Education is a gift from the superior knowledge of another human being, and therefore we have no personal control over it.

Health care professionals (doctors, nurses, etc.) have studied and made knowledge of health care their possession, just as a mechanic's tool kit is his possession. Same with teachers. Their knowledge is their possession.

Treating the possession of another human being as a personal right is called thievery. Treating health care or education as a right is the same as stealing the mechanic's tools.

While I do not like Obama-care in the slightest, this is not an attack on it. I am merely pointing out a distinction in what is or is not a personal right.

By the way, you do not have the right to even BREATHE tomorrow. You could be in a car accident and die four hours from now. You don't know, do you? Be careful what you call a right, and make sure you have complete personal control over it.

*waits to see what crawls from the can of worms*

Lost and Yet Unfound

I searched high. All I found was my brother's portfolio of school activities.

I searched low. All I found was medical records.

I searched in the middle. All I found was a Toastmaster booklet.

"Oh, where, oh where did my cross-stitch go? Oh, where, oh where can it be?"

So now I am led to post an ad:

Last seen: Uh... four years ago?
Last known location: The school room
Wearing: Possibly in a manila envelope

If anyone has seen it, please let me know! It is finished and I would like to frame it someday...

Review: The Last Airbender

I give this movie a very generous two stars out of five. I didn't know anything about it when my brother invited me to go with him and see it. Some thoughts:

1. Practice of magic. I don't particularly mind creatures in stories that are inherently magical (fairies with wands, etc). What I do object to is the study and practice of magic. Thumbs down.

2. Romance for the sake of reviews. People, seriously. You don't make the secondary character brother fall in love (*gasp! I think I'm in love!*) with the (*swoons*) unbelievably beautiful princess. They spend every moment in the background of scenes holding hands and looking cute and adorable. And then... Alas, she must die, but for a very noble cause! Insert intense music and dramatic final kiss... Then she dies. And we were all like, "Whoop-de-doo. I don't even remember her name." If you're going to make a short, secondary romance and then kill her, don't play it all up to be over-dramatic. Thumbs down.

3. Martial arts and action. So I have a thing for martial arts. I kind of adore it. This and Thought #4 made this movie worth watching for me. So much fighting action! Woo! Thumbs up.

4. Katara's costumes. Oh. My. Word. I so want to copy her blue dress. And the fur one. Rarely do you see movies set in this style where the women/girls wear decent clothing, and these... were fabulous. During the movie, I had to whisper to my mom how much I love them. I am so making myself the blue dress. HERE is a link to an ok picture. Apparently the people at IMDB don't care about costume fanatics or they would have posted a bunch more pictures of Katara. :-P Thumbs WAY UP!

So there are four thoughts. The movie was very meh.

Home Alone on the 4th of July...

The last of my family left for a 4th of July party. I am staying home. This is the first year I can remember that I didn't go to the annual baseball game at a friend's house or the huge fireworks display at another friend's. Tonight is just me and my goats and Wolverine. My kitten Wolverine, not the X-Men movies.

So my plans are to do barn chores and then walk to the neighbor's house to feed her cats. Then come home and glue my mind to the keyboard. There is an epic fantasy story awaiting me... :)

Happy 4th to my American friends! And happy random-day-in-July to my good friend Roseberry. :)

Wins and Losses on July 2nd

I thought I'd count up today's wins and losses.

Wins:
Got another few pages written in my book. It was a very epic scene.
Getting three T-shirts and a bag of M&Ms for $7. The shirts were half off, and then I had a 15% off coupon on top of that. Yay!
Having a steak waiting for me at home. Yum!

Losses:
A chipmunk introduced itself to my truck's tire on my way to work. ;'(
It's difficult to wash your face in the shower while you're still wearing your glasses. *facepalm*

AAAAAAA*gasp*AAAAAAAA*gasp*AAAAAAAHHHH

The title roughly translates to: "This is July? Shouldn't it be April still? My, how time flies!"

So today is the Lego Man's birthday. He shouldn't be 17. He should be 12. Seriously.

Ever felt like life is running away and you realize you'll never catch up? Oh, well. Happy birthday, my dear baby brother. Your "little big sister" loves you!