Mark Wahlberg

I was watching a rerun of Top Gear today and the star in their reasonably priced car was Mark Wahlberg. The conversation naturally turned to what cars he'd had and ones that he currently owns. Mark stated that he drives a Brabus, Mercedes 550 (not a bad looking automobile, I must say) and Clarkson asked if Tom Cruise was a Brabus fan as well. Mark's response was, "I don't know. We attend different churches, so I don't know. I'm at the one with Jesus, baby."
Had me in stitches.

John Currin

Rachel As The Hag

Tucker In Scranton

Last year my BFF and I journeyed to Scranton, Pennsylvania. Our primary goal was to hit the local Krispy Kreme because Amy & I are die hard KK fanatics and are more than willing to drive several hours to retrieve as many donuts as will fit into our vehicle. While there, we stopped with Tucker at the Steamtown Mall so he could pose beside the city sign with the cute lil' frog as well as in front of the railroad graveyard. I must admit, I thoroughly enjoyed the train ruins, but not as much as the half dozen Krispy Kreme donuts I devoured.

Stacy Keach

There is something just so magnetic about this man. I'd seen him first as Mike Hammer when I was a kid, but it wasn't until I saw The Ninth Configuration and his performance as Vincent Kane that I became totally enamored of him. I am right now watching Road Games and loving every suspenseful second. Stacy in those über tight trousers is a beautiful sight...

Jericho

Opening that heart shaped box, I found the note that reads: the smell of mothballs. It is without a doubt my most favourite smell. My grandparents' home in the 1970s & early 80s was a 3-story Colonial style house that smelled of mothballs and antique furniture. The house was sold when I was eight, but whenever that familiar odour passes through my olfactory senses, I am instantly transported back to that house.

Another Favourite

"When Michael calls me Liza, Lila, Lulu, Elizabeth, Blue's Clue, Lollapaliza, & Lilapalooza."
Fr. Michael rarely calls me by my known name like everyone else does, but instead calls me by a slew of random nicknames. Some make sense, others, not so much.

Unique & Unexpected Compliments

First off, I must say that I am not known for my looks, rather, I am not known by having good looks; I am known for, and it pains me to type this, I am known for my personality. Bleh. Anyone, especially a female, who is not terribly attractive is loathed to be said to have a "great" personality. It's the consolation prize and it sucks. All that having been said, it is rare that a genuine and believable compliment is bestowed upon me. When it is, I tend to lock it in my memory forever.
Years ago I worked in a small café attached to a book shop. It was the best job I ever had. I got paid less than eight dollars an hour and once was so broke that I had to subsist on porridge for three weeks. I lived in a charming rowhouse in a crummy part of Philadelphia that had cockroaches in summer. Yeah. Cockroaches. Sometimes they would perch on my step and wait for me to come home at 1am. It got to the point where I had to carry a water pistol with me and shoot them off the step and then dash inside. But I digress. So, I worked in a café and the people I worked with were wonderful, and most of the customers were equally as wonderful. I could wear jeans and funky t-shirts, pink All-Stars, and have purple spiked hair. Life was good.
Busing the tables one weekday evening, I smiled at one of the four customers in the café. She wore fun rainbow striped reading glasses and had brown hair and a lovely smile. She said to me, "I picked this up in the bookstore and I know I don't know you very well, but I think this describes you perfectly." She held up Exuberance by Kay Redfield Jamison. She had been watching me that night while I chatted with the patrons and noticed that it seemed as though I was best friends with each person I spoke with. Years later I can barely recall this woman's face, but I remember her kindness. She said I was exuberant. How divine is that?

Dontchya love...

...when work or school flies by.

Simple

My third birthday was perfection. I got my first Big Wheel, a bucket with tools for the beach, and a brand new turtle stove. My best friend Michele had the fuchsia hippo sink and I am certain that is why I desired the matching stove. We were the proverbial two peas in a pod. As for the Big Wheel, well, my brothers had a Green Machine and thus ruled the cul-de-sac, but I would at last rule the sidewalk. I was only three years old but I believed the entire world was mine and I loved every glorious moment. My god, I can't believe I'm wearing white patent leather Mary Janes with navy blue knee socks. Hello 1979. (I look like Cousin Eddie from the Vacation films!!)

Dug

Up was one of the best movies I saw last year and Dug the dog was my favourite. He was so stinkin' cute and irresistible. I looked him up on Wikipedia and apparently the creator and voice of Dug, Bob Peterson, was a camp counselor in the 80s. One of the kids came up to him and said "I have just met you and I love you." That is about the cutest god damn thing I have ever heard. My fave scene though, is when Dug appears on the porch with his head bowed and explains, "I was hiding under your porch because I love you." Everything Dug said or did in Up had me in stitches or tears. He was beyond adorable.

I love me Mum & Da.

For the past week I've been sick like a friggin' animal and coughin' like I've got a 4 pack a day habit. Every time I cough my ribs ache and my head pounds and my eyes water. I stopped by my parents' place today and suddenly morphed back into myself as a 5 year old. I was sniffling and whining and complaining about how crappy I feel and how I'm certain that I'll never get better. Mum immediately got up - in the middle of Antique's Roadshow, mind you - and went digging through the medicine cabinet. She emerged with a small Coldwater Creek bag filled with Vitamin C, cough drops, Mucinex capsules, and Chloraseptic. Da meandered his way into the kitchen during one of my coughing fits to say, "Whatsamatterwityou? You sick or sumthin'?" Still coughing I nodded my head and then merged into a succession of sneezes that ended with me shouting, "Chrissakes!! I'm gonna puke or pee my pants, this totally sucks!!" Mum asked if I needed tissues and I pouted a yes. She reached for a box from the cupboard and Da stopped her with, "No no no...not the Kleenex, Rosemary! Give 'er the Puffs, it's softer." They packed up my goodies and blew me a kiss as they shuffled me out the door. I'm positive that moments after I sped away that my mother was disinfecting every surface I touched. I'm like the Outbreak monkey.

Far More Than A Pretty Face

Maggie Gyllenhaal. If you aren't completely in love with this woman, than you clearly have not seen her in Stranger Than Fiction or Sherrybaby or Away We Go. Her performances are impassioned and relatable. There is very little to not admire about this young woman. She is incredible.

Tucker's Adventures Continue

My first ever trip to Sonic was June of 2008 in Barnegat with Melissa. As you can see, little Tucker was just as excited to get a grilled cheese kids meal with tater tots as I was!

(I'm sorry, but he's just cute as a button.)

Kevin Durand

This fella is one of those actors that when you say his name people usually respond with "Who???" Then you are obliged to offer, "You know....he was the guy Russell Crowe stabs in the throat in 3:10, and he was one of those crazy brothers from Smokin' Aces - the one w/the mohawk. He was the bad-ass that killed Ben's daughter on Lost (Which frankly, she so had it coming. You can't have hair lookin' that good in climate like that and then be surprised when someone wants you dead. you just can't.), and of course he was The Blob in Wolverine. Then the response is usually, "Oh! The big dude...yeah, he's cool." Honey, cool don't even begin to describe him. Happy bday, Kev, and I'll be seein' ya on the 22nd for Legion.

Galileo Galilei

Wine is sunlight held together by water.

Philly

Karen's Home

My gal pal's home is a beautiful red house in The Pine Barrens of New Jersey. When she wasn't looking, I snapped some pictures of both the interior and exterior of her fabulous abode. See for yourself:

Chicago

A couple years ago my BFF & I went to Chicago for a few days and brought along my mascot, Tucker (better known to most folks as T-Bone from the Clifford the Big Red Dog Books). I delight in photographing Tucker at strange places. I found Chicago to be one of the most gorgeous cities I've had the pleasure to visit and impatiently await the next chance I find to return. Here are a handful of photos that I liked best. Break out your magnifying glass to find Tucker at the base of the Picasso at Daley Plaza.

Last of the Christmas Lights

Driving around with Fr. Michael on Thursday, we were admiring and occasionally mocking the Christmas lights in my neighbourhood. Just imagine the scene, it's 1am and two random individuals drive through ridiculously wealthy developments in a blue collar vehicle with cigarettes dangling from their mouths as they point and giggle at the overly indulgent Christmas lights that were clearly done by professionals. The above photo does not being to capture the harsh glow from the LED lights of that house. It could be seen from the entrance of the cul-de-sac where I thought for an instant that we may perhaps be coming upon Las Vegas. Fr. Michael shook his head in dismay and said, "That just screams 'new money'."

Please note the palm trees that are scattered across the lawn and the evergreen to the far left. Y'know, I don't believe that palm trees are indigenous to Southern New Jersey. Sadly, this is not the only home in these parts that features palm trees and evergreen 'growing' side by side. Astonishing.

Michael and I both agree that we prefer lights hung by the owners of the house and you can totally tell those from the ones designed by a company. Oh well, to each his own!

Ray Winstone in "Sexy Beast"

I was mesmerized by him in that role. I'd never seen him before and his portrayal of Gal was brilliant in every way. Few lines stand out as clearly as Gal on the phone to his wife telling her, "I love you like a rose loves rainwater..."

26 Days and Counting....

Waiting for February 2nd has felt like awaiting the birth of my child. I am overwhelmed with a mixed feeling of anxiety, fear, sadness, glee, and excitement for what is to be the last season of one of the best television series ever.

James Stockdale

You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

Few sentences are as truthful and inspiring as this.

What's Important

After work tonight I stopped over to my parents' place. Mum & I were chatting in the kitchen when we heard on the news that there was a fire in the apartments near my place. I immediately left and went home to save one thing, should the wind blow the flames the couple of blocks down and destroy my home (highly unlikely, I know). That one thing was Snoopy, my childhood pal, my transitional object. He's still got a spot in the corner of my bed, but I no longer whisper my secrets in his ear, I don't smother him with kisses anymore, and I have stopped taking him with me everywhere I go. I don't even have Rachel babysit him when I go away for the night, like I did all through high school. But when my overactive imagination thought perhaps that everything I own and hold dear was in danger of going up in flames, the only thing I thought to save was my old pal, Snoopy.
(here's a few pix of snoops, then and now) 

Dreamland

About 12 years ago I had a very vivid and bizarre dream. But, I'm often prone to odd dreams. In this one however, I found myself in an enormous banquet hall filled with celebrities dressed to the nines. I was standing beside Holly Hunter and she looked stunning. Suddenly she turned her back to the door and facing me whispered, "Oh my God, I can't believe it. I can't believe he's here. Bill Shatner!" I looked to the doorway and sure enough, there he was, Bill Shatner. Holly continued to freak out, "Oh Jesus, he's coming over here. How do I look? Do I look okay? How's my hair? Oh my God I can't believe this, I just love William Shatner, you have no idea."
Holly spun around with an ear to ear grin as Shatner walked over to us. Just as Holly was about to introduce herself to the man of her dreams, she stopped cold. Shatner, ignoring Holly, glided instead to me, took my hand in his as if in a melodramatic romance scene and asked my name. I replied, "Elizabeth," with a note of confusion in my voice as to why in the hell he would be speaking to me when Holly Hunter is but inches from him. Shatner closed his eyes in ecstasy, threw his head over his right shoulder and gasped, "Elizabeth...What an enchanting name..." and then proceeded to kiss my hand. I look over to Holly and see that she is cloaked in devastation and about ready to burst into tears. Bill, who doesn't take his eyes from me for an instant, let alone even notice Holly's existence, links my hand under his arm and leads me away. Oddly enough, after this dream I was like, "Y'know, that Shatner bloke isn't half bad." I still can't forget the look of disappointment on Holly's face. It amuses me because I've got a face like Harrison Ford and there's not a chance in hell that a real life Bill Shatner would choose me over someone as supremely beautiful as Ms. Holly Hunter. But then again, maybe Shatner is a HUGE Harrison Ford fan...


(I'd like to add that Harrison Ford has a truly lovely face, however, it is a masculine face and one that does very little good on the body of a thirtysomething gal. You understand, I'm sure.)

Jane Lynch

Love this woman. Love, love, love this woman. She first caught my eye in Best In Show and after that it seemed everywhere I turned, there she was; Desperate Housewives, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, A Mighty Wind, The L Word, and Arrested Development to name a few. Her role this season on Glee was shocking and hilarious, but it wasn't until we saw a glimpse of the real Sue Sylvester, the Sue who visits her sister and reads aloud to her, that I truly fell in love with this series. I am waiting with bated breath for Netflix to send me Julia & Julie. I have it on good authority from a certain someone that Jane's performance as Julia Child's younger sister is nothing short of spectacular. Can't wait to check out season one of Party Down on Netflix instant tonight. Crikey, this gal is everywhere and I am lovin' it!

Saturn

Hanging at the garage while my brother worked on replacing Truman's ignition cylinder, I managed to snap this still life. I really like that the point most in focus is the grain in the wood handle of the hammer. I'm not an artist, but I enjoy pretending to be one.