Wacky Weather

I woke up this morning to 4 inches of snow so I was able to take my time getting through my morning routine and was even able to make a nice breakfast. About 11:00 I made my way into work and by the time I got there the sky was a beautiful deep blue and the sun was shining. Too weird for late February in Portland. Tonight, most of the snow is gone but we’re supposed to have another 2 inches tomorrow morning. Then we’re supposed to hit 60 on Sunday.

I love it when we get snow but I wish it would stick around for a while instead of melting away before I get home to build a snowman. Okay…I did that this morning…but he was a little snowman.

Sixty on Sunday sounds great…I can take the dog to the river and maybe get a tan. I can dream can’t I?

Lessons

Tonight I spent some time at my test page trying on my html training wheels and learning to make my page a bit more interesting. I know…I don’t post for days and days and then I admit to playing around on a page that nobody will ever see. Well hey…it takes a lot more time in the make-up trailer when you’re my age!

I did make a small adjustment to my page and I hope to make others soon because I’m getting tired of the layout and want to brighten things up a bit. I’ll put up new curtains and maybe paint a few walls and by Spring I should have a new place to reside.

Oh well…enough playing around…time to get back to proofing and formatting biosketches for this grant. Pray for snow in the morning so I can mosey in late, if at all. I get so much more accomplished without the distractions at the office.

16 for 24?

Oh…I should know better. I used to have annual Oscar Parties with Official Ballots and cash awards and would always win or tie for first place. This year I’ve been too busy to throw together a party so I participated in the cyber balloting over at Durban Bud and evidently didn’t do too bad at 12 for 21. If he’d included the short film categories I would have hit 16 of 24. A decent score but not winning material in competition.

I fell victim to the hype and the fact that the Screen Actor’s Guild, being the largest voting group in the Academy, chose Little Miss Sunshine for their ‘Ensemble’, or Best Picture equivalent prize, and Eddie Murphy for Best Supporting Actor. I really wasn’t all that thrilled with “…Sunshine” although it was cute, it wasn’t Best Picture cute and yet I voted for it anyway…Do’h! And I should have listened to my own advice and voted for Alan Arkin because there is always one sympathy award…and to think I was this close to voting for him.

Overall I think it was a good show and Ellen DeGeneres rocked the house but my biggest complaint was Best Supporting Actress. I’m tired of the hype surrounding Jennifer Hudson and her performance was simply a carbon copy of Jennifer Holliday’s fine performance in the stage version. In fact, Ms. Hudson didn’t even bother to make “And I’m Telling You…” her own. Any true artist would have put a new twist on the song and claimed it but not this homophobic bitch, nope, she just did her best impression of the original. Oh well…her 15 minutes are up! Sure…she’ll be around for a little while but America will lose interest pretty quickly. Remember Alicia Silverstone? Or Catherine Zeta Jones? I thought so.

It was great to finally see Marty take home the Director prize even if this wasn’t his best film or second best for that matter but they did give it to him while he’s still alive.

The Lifetime Achievement award to Ennio Morricone was well deserved too if also a little late. That man writes the most spectacular film music if not the most beautiful melodies ever! If you doubt that…check out the soundtrack to The Mission.

Next year the party is back on and I’ll pay more attention to my tried and true voting rules. I’m sure to do better and it’s always more fun when there’s a bit o’ cash on the line. I’ll send you all an invite!

Blogus Neglectus

I keep wanting to post but so many little things keep getting in the way and tonight, after receiving a few comments and e-mails asking where I went, I decided I better leave at least a short note letting everyone know I’m still here. So, I type in my user name and password and I’m denied entry. I try again…Denied.

I think about my password and try again…Denied. Damn! My password is so second nature that I don’t really know what it is…I just type it. I try to channel the word…Denied! One last try….Denied.

I had to request a new password. So sad.

It’s been so long since I posted. Okay, only a week but I didn’t post much the previous week so I can see how this happened. That and the fact that my head is full of useless information right now. This grant is just now reaching the most intense preparation period and our Chinese colleagues are not very forthcoming with their information and the Big Guy is considering a last minute flight to China to gather the final documents. I came down with a cold and worked from home to get my documents formatted and proofed only to find another stack waiting for me when I went into the office today. It just doesn’t end.

Our Italian colleagues who just moved here also require quite a bit of attention and Mark and I have spent a lot of time helping them get their apartment secured and furnished and pulling all the details together. It’s a tough road for them especially since everything you do in the US requires a social security number which requires a 10 day waiting period before applying. WTF? Give these folks a break, it takes 3-4 weeks to get a SS number and you can’t even get a phone without one.

But I digress.

I do miss reading all my cyber buddies blog’s and I try to catch up on one or two as time permits but now that I’ve forgotten my password I realize I need to log-in and blog, even if it’s just a short note to say “hi”. So, please don’t write me off and remove me from your blogroll just because I’m not posting daily (Jimbo) and check your stats and you’ll see I’m still lurking all though not as often. I will return to write more frequently but I’ll probably be sketchy until late March. Most importantly though, thanks for being more consistent than I am right now, it’s nice to have somplace to go when I’m eating my sandwich at my desk.

Phun Photo Phriday

He’s dead, Jim.

You Call These Cookies?

I was running through the supermarket this past weekend to pick up some milk for a cheesemaking experiment with the neighbor. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a package of Nestle Tollhouse Cookies with caramel topping. Being a caramel junkie I popped the package into my basket for a late night treat.

Last night, after a long day at work, I remembered the cookies and decided I deserved a treat.  In no time at all I can have warm, gooey, caramelly cookies.  Mmmm.  I separated the pre-cut squares, placed them on the cookie sheet and 10 minutes later I had….shit! These are the worst fucking cookies I’ve ever tasted. Even after dousing them with the caramel topping they still taste like garbage. I should have known better than to buy pre-fab cookies. Never, never, ever again!

Phun Photo Phriday

Now there’s a City Council I wouldn’t want to sit on.

Where’d this Week Go?

Where has the week gone? Last weekend was so busy I had material to blog everyday this week but come Monday I was lucky to find the time to check my e-mail, let alone post.

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in apartment hunting mode and helping Elena & Emilio open a bank account and get acquainted with our American ways. It’s been a long time since I’ve been an apartment dweller and the application process is as complicated as airport security the first few months after 9/11. I swear they want your life history, a DNA sample, and you must be a recent lottery winner to pay all the move-in costs. It doesn’t matter if you’re an M.D. with a six figure income, they still want blood.

Today I had a work lunch followed by a trip to the eye doctor. I forgot how strange it is having my eyes dilated. It reminds me of that feeling when the LSD starts to kick in and your peripheral vision begins blurring, only without the chills. I always hated that feeling.

I hope to take my new Italian friends on a Gorge excursion this weekend and I think I’ll make some more mozarella cheese before moving on to a hard cheese. I want to be sure that our cheese mentor is back from Costa Rica before moving forward in case things go south (pun not intended). I can also pull together my post on the first mozarella experience and share some photos of the process.

Music to my Ears

We have a new researcher in the trenches. She’s Spanish but has been living in Italy for the past 20 years. Her Italian husband speaks virtually no English and when he talks, the musical strains of his dreamy accent stop me in my tracks. I’m taking them apartment hunting tomorrow and really looking forward to it!

I also made my first mozarella cheese this weekend. Once the pics are uploaded and I have a spare minute I’ll let you know how it turned out.

Phun Photo Phriday

Pathetic Pup!

One of Mac’s favorite characters…usually pulled out to make me feel guilty for spending time away from home without him.

It tends to work.