Month: November 2005 Page 1 of 2

My world got a little darker today.

I turn on the car radio on my way into work, and am confronted with the horrifying fact that someone made a cover of Professor Dumbledore Richard Harris' MacArthur Park.

I have no words – merely an inarticulate scream of horror and despair.

Damn, but can cook a turkey!

He's in charge of cooking the turkey, making gravy, and making the bread. (Ok, so we cheat and use a bread maker)

I'm in charge of the mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (la la la la I can't hear you, it's good stuff la la la), and carving the turkey. I call it carving, but really, it's just hacking all the meat off. It works. I (heart) my electric knife.

Rob played Final Fantasy most of the morning while I slept in. I played .hack most of the afternoon. After dinner we attempted to watch Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, but our very first netflix disc was not merely scratched, but seriously cracked. The dvd player wouldn't even try. So we watched Sleepy Hollow instead. Mmmm… Johnny Depp.

So far I'm impressed with netflix' service though – I supposedly have another copy of Sky Captain already on the way. Psst… jenbooks. At. Gmail. Dot. Com. Add me to your netflix friends list! I love movie recommendations!

About Turkey Day, Food-Mas, T-day, ThxDay (good one !) – I try to remember to be thankful at least a couple of times a month. I have so much to be thankful for.

Right at the top of that list is the man who cooked my dinner tonight. Think I'd better go tell him so.

The menu for tomorrow:

Turkey
Homemade Gravy
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole (hey, I love the stuff)
Cranberry sauce (the canned jelled stuff, because that's what likes. Bleh – it's all his.
Homemade Bread – either honey white, or beer bread w/ guinness or fat tire – undecided as yet.
Ice Cream for dessert.

The plan for tomorrow (other than cooking) is sleeping in, video games, movies and stuff.

Off work for a nice long weekend (more about that later), I just played an hour's worth of .hack, and I've also discovered that I like Guinness beer.

Wow.

Great start to the holiday!

I just joined Netflix! So, add me to your netflix friends list!

jenbooks. gmail.

No wonder I'm cold!

It is time for warm fuzzy socks and a warm fuzzy man. You may hear the shriek when I first get my feet warmed up.

Well. So much for resolutions.

I'm starting my 63rd book this evening; last year about this time I was at 116. I noticed I re-read more than I thought I had too. Hmm. I've got a lot of ruts to break out of next year.

So, here's the list so far:

002. Thuvia, Maid of Mars – Burroughs, Edgar Rice
003. Dragon's Kin – McCaffrey, Anne & Todd
004. Guardian Angel – Paretsky, Sara
005. Feed – Anderson, M.T.
006. Cat Who Talked Turkey, The – Braun, Lilian Jackson
007. Bright Messengers – Lee, Gentry
008. Faraday's Orphans – Wood, N. Lee
009. Belinda – Rampling, Anne
010. Between Planets – Heinlein, Robert
011. Rolling Stones, The – Heinlein, Robert
012. Star Beast, The – Heinlein, Robert
013. Starman Jones – Heinlein, Robert
014. Broker, The – Grisham, John
015. Mortal Prey – Sandford, John
016. Rendezvous With Rama – Clarke, Arthur C.
017. Hacker – Martin, Lee
018. Beauty Before Comfort – Glock, Allison
019. Pyramids – Pratchett, Terry
020. Sean Connery: From 007 To Hollywood Icon – Yule, Andrew
021. Wyrd Sisters – Pratchett, Terry
022. Eric – Pratchett, Terry
023. Guards! Guards! – Pratchett, Terry
024. Witches Abroad – Pratchett, Terry
025. Reaper Man – Pratchett, Terry
026. SFWA Grand Masters, vol 1 – Pohl, Frederik
027. Remembering Johnny – People Magazine
028. Feet Of Clay – Pratchett, Terry
029. Men At Arms – Pratchett, Terry
030. Jingo – Pratchett, Terry
031. Soul Music – Pratchett, Terry
032. Hogfather – Pratchett, Terry
033. The Truth – Pratchett, Terry
034. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone – Rowling, J.K.
035. Harry Potter and the Chamber Of Secrets – Rowling, J.K.
036. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Rowling, J.K.
037. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – Rowling, J.K.
038. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – Rowling, J.K.
039. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Rowling, J.K.
040. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Dahl, Roald
041. Never Cry Wolf – Mowat, Farley
042. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (again) – Rowling, J.K.
043. Dark Tower I – The Gunslinger – King, Stephen
044. Dark Tower II – The Drawing of the Three – King, Stephen
045. Dark Tower III – The Wastelands – King, Stephen
046. Sandman Preludes & Nocturnes – Gaiman, Neil
047. Sandman The Doll's House – Gaiman, Neil
048. Dark Tower IV – Wizard And Glass – King, Stephen
049. Dark Tower V – Wolves of the Calla – King, Stephen
050. Night Prey – Sandford, John
051. Dark Tower VI – Song of Susannah – King, Stephen
052. Dark Tower VII – The Dark Tower – King, Stephen
053. Rules of Prey – Sandford, John
054. Shadow Prey – Sandford, John
055. Eyes of Prey – Sandford, John
056. Silent Prey – Sandford, John
057. Winter Prey – Sandford, John
058. Mind Prey – Sandford, John
059. Sudden Prey – Sandford, John
060. Secret Prey – Sandford, John
061. Certain Prey – Sandford, John
062. Easy Prey – Sandford, John

Jen's book list (with Amazon links)

Today, we picked up Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. I love the 1971 Willy Wonka, but this version of it is fantastic. So true to the book, as well.

Item the first: Jake loves to chase squirrels in the back yard. Never even comes close to them, and always overshoots the tree they scamper up, but boy, does he love to try.

Item the second: Jake is a very smart dog. He knows many words and phrases. “Walk”. “Last Call” (his last time out for the night and we really mean it). “Pocky” (don't ask). Among these words and phrases that he understands is the word “Squirrel”.

Item the third: The deluxe dvd for Charlie & the Chocolate Factory has a short documentary on how they trained the squirrels for Veruca's Bad Nut scene. When talking about squirrels, it is quite natural to use the word “squirrel” many times.

So I'm watching this “making of” thing, and all of a sudden notice that Jake is quite agitated. He runs to the back door, wiggling, and stares out into the yard. The guy on the dvd says “squirrel” again, and Jake barks and nudges the door.

I try to point out to the dog that the squirrels are on TV – he almost gets it. He stares at the TV, and put his paws up on the center, but he was still sure that the squirrels were really in the backyard and insisted on going out.

So, we let him out to chase the squirrels, who are most likely sleeping wherever it is that squirrels sleep. When Jake comes back in, he quietly lays on the floor – staring intently at the TV – until the squirrel documentary is over.

So I just woke up from an odd dream. I dreamed was teaching me to throw hand grenades at a dixie cup¹. Then I was reading his journal entry about giving a facelift to a local octogenarian, but I woke up before I could click the link.

¹Well, it was a large dixie cup.