This is how the sky looked like this afternoon. Beautiful, no? It's another new meme in which I'm participating today: Skywatch Friday . Bloggers from all over the world post their shots of the skies above. Come with me to check it out by clicking here .

Not KFC.  Not Starbucks nor 24 Hour Fitness Center. Franchise, a s in the right to vote.  Take advantage of your right as a U.S. citizen.  Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Just saying.  Today being Thursday means I'm playing in Alphabe-Thursday , a meme hosted by Jenny Matlock at Off On My Tangent . Click here to check what other F's are out there in the virtual world today.  Absolutely, after you watch and listen to the Beatles. Of course. 

Check out other Wordless Wednesday snaps with me by clicking here . Enjoy!

I'm still not reading books for fun regularly like I did before there were blogs, but at least I'm getting back into it. Last night, I finished Craig Ferguson's autobiography and picked up my latest to read from my pile of books yet to read. Really, I shouldn't even be thinking of buying new books or browsing for books at the library. But, I am. Since I have new book, I'm participating in the weekly book meme called Teaser Tuesday . Basically, you open the book at random and choose two sentences (though some bloggers choose more) to quote. The objective: To provide enough of a tease that others may be interested in reading the book, too.  So, after reading my offering, come join me at Teaser Tuesday to discover possible future reads. "Bart was right to warn her it wouldn't be easy. The mayhem, the turbulence, the mushrooming growth, the scope and pervasiveness of underworld activity, topped off by the massive disruption of the earthquake and f...

Who doesn't like awards, especially when they are received unexpectedly? I do!  Last week, blogger Sarah of Sarah Who Reads Too Much surprised me with the One Lovely Blog Award. Whoo-hoo!   Thank you, Sarah, I appreciate the honor. The award does come with a wonderful catch. I must now play it forward and pass it on to up to 15 other bloggers, which according to past awardees are writers of blogs that I have recently discovered. (What's considered a recent discovery is up to me, since no one else is saying.) I'm continually finding new blogs to read, many from blog hops, linky parties, and memes in which I participate. The following are my picks of some of the many engaging blogs to which I subscribe. You may find one, several, or all blogs that appeal to you, dear gentle readers. Check 'em out! A Matter of Opinion Bungalow '56 Chaotically Me Crunchy Betty   Miranda Moments of Whimsy   Monterey Daily Photo My Life as a Domestic Nerd Naked Without Books Off on ...

I went looking for orange in the sky. Kinda found it with my camera (back in June). Definitely found it when I edited the photo in Photoshop. What I want to know is which image represents the colors in the sky at the moment—the photo untouched or one of the edited versions?  What do you think? To check out other Photo Hunters' interpretation of the theme, click over to the site of our host, TNChick. The original print. How it looked when I clicked auto color in Photoshop. How it looked when I clicked auto levels.

Here's what this week looked like for a professional writer who hasn't been doing much writing lately. Be forewarned: You may fall asleep. That's okay. I may already have. Sunday The husband and I bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner. Although several friends had recommended it, I did not put it on our list of choices because of the cost.  At the store, we got curious and looked at it. Then all of a sudden Jesus appeared. "Can I help you?" he asked politely. (Really, the sales guy's name was Jesus. Not Hay-soos, but Gee-sus.) Very long story short, with Jesus' confidence about the machine and the store's return policy, we decided to invest in the machine. Monday I vacuumed part of the house. Result: Three containers full of dust. The mama made a mistake on her absentee ballot, so I took her down to the courthouse for a replacement. As we headed up the stairs, she said, "I feel so ashamed for making a mistake." In all her 50 years of voting, this was...

Eccentric. Adjective: Unconventional, extraordinary, offbeat, quirky. Noun: Character, individualist, free spirit, odd duck, kook. "My beard is flapping in the wind," said the husband. He was standing patiently next to me as I first snapped photos of a corn maze, then videotaped the corn swaying in the wind. He mentioned his beard flapping in the wind several times that afternoon. As some of you know, the husband and I shaved our hair completely off in January, just to see how long it would grow in a year. The husband also shaved off his beard and mustache. He is allowed to trim his mustache, but no can do with the beard. The husband says his beard is the longest he has ever had it. So, of course, I had to shoot a video of the husband's beard flapping in the wind. Enjoy! If you want to read more (or again) about our haircuts, please click here . This will take you to all the posts (I think) about our hairy adventure. Scroll all the way to the bottom to read about how we c...

Yep. I found us—you, dear gentle readers and—another blog hop to check out. This is a fun, short one for all of us book-loving readers.  Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading . The idea is to randomly pick two sentences from a book you are currently reading.  Check it out! Of course, read my offering first, then head over to here . "Giants and fairies was how he described classical music. He could just as well have been talking about show business." ~ American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson page 26

The mama constantly works. She sows and maintains her gardens. She breaks to eat lunch and to read the daily news. Today she also napped.  Unusual. We both wondered. The Sunday 160 is hosted by the Monkey Man. A 160 is 160 characters, including spaces. To learn about it and to read other bloggers' Sunday 160, head over to this page .

Dinengdeng was what the mama prepared for dinner almost every day during summer when I was a kid. It's an Ilocano dish made of a variety of vegetables, which was quick and easy for the Mama to put together and cook after a long day of work pollinating vegetables. Because dinengdeng has such a musical sounding name, the dish ought to have been delicious, a comfort to my aging soul. Nope. The dish—the way the mama cooked it—continues to be a memory of Yuck! It wasn't because of the vegetables. I liked them all: eggplant, long beans, squash flowers, saluyot (jute leaves), parda, bittermelon, and whatever other else was growing in the daddy's garden. When the Mama cooked the same vegetables as pinakbet, a vegetable stew with a tomato base, I couldn't get enough of it. But, dinengdeng. Shudder! Still, I ate it. Quickly. This summer, I started cooking my rendition of dinengdeng. That's only because I try to beat the Mama to the kitchen to cook the combination of veggies t...

I want to do this: Go bouncy-bounce on a trampoline over here . So, I'm doing this: Jumping/hopping on my two feet 10 times, at least 3 times a day. Every day. Why? I have this crazy fear of jumping, including jumping into a pool and bouncing on a trampoline. Sure, four years ago, I stepped off a plane from 18,000 feet high. But that was different. I was dropping into air while hooked to a professional skydiver. No jumping involved there. The thing is I'm not getting any younger. It's time for me to get rid of this silly fear. My first day of 3 x 10 times of jumping was scary. My feet cleared the floor by a couple of inches, if that. I had to use my arms (Imagine: arms in broad jump pose) to get my momentum going. I got a lot of pounds  of gravity to contend with, mind you. But, I did it. I was actually amazed that I did it. I'm also pretty proud of myself. I think the husband is too. When he's nearby as I'm jumping, he cheers me on.What a guy! Today is my four...

"Stripes" is the theme of this week's PhotoHunt, hosted by TNChick. My offering is this photo of a chapel door at Mission San Juan Bautista . To check out other PhotoHunters, click here .

This is how I think my mind looks (the cabinet, that is) when you look at me: Blank. This is how I think my mind looks like a lot of the times: Disorder! This is how I think my mind looks like when it really should be taking care of business: La, la, la, la. I'm hanging out at Wordless Wednesday today. Come check out other bloggers with me by clicking here . P.S. It's early Friday morning. I'm hooking up at Java's Never Growing Old: Follow Friday 40 and Over. Come check out other blogs with me by clicking here .

Night clouds? Nope. I took this picture of clouds in the middle of the day. This morning I was playing with Photoshop, and this is what happened when I used the auto color adjustment button on the original photo. Amazing, huh? If made me wonder if Photoshop stripped out the blue color because the blue really isn't there in the sky. We see a blue sky during the day because of the way light waves rush through the atmosphere. Something like that. For the actual explanation, click here . Anyway, I thought it was rather cool how the clouds looked in a darkish sky. Here's what the original photo looked like when I used the Auto Contrast adjustment button.  Clarity of blue. And, here's the original photo untouched by Photoshop voodoo magic. By the way, don't the clouds look like two people dancing or maybe two people having a gab fest? All this musing about blue skies got me yearning to hear  Willie Nelson's rendition of Irving Berlin's Blue Skies . I thought you wou...

I got up early (for me) and headed out to a garage sale this morning. Excuse me, an estate sale. The belongings were those of the widow of the late publisher of our local newspaper, who gave me my first paying job as a writer when I was in high school a long time ago. I was hoping that there might be stuff from the publishing world for sale. But, that was not my intent for checking out the sale. I never met the missus of my first publishing boss. I did get to know a bit about her this morning as I rummaged around her belongings. She liked Christmas. She enjoyed traveling and playing bridge. She was into doll making and crafts. And, for a costume party, I'm guessing she was Little Bo Peep or some kind of doll. Because the husband and I are supposed to be downsizing our stuff, I managed to stay focused on my mission. Kinda. I have been seeking cups and saucers to make more teacup bird feeders . I found two perfect sets. Right after I paid for them, I broke one. Ka-pow! I've sav...