Disjointed Meandering Through the Colors of My Mind

Is it silly to awaken on Saturday morning but only think about sleeping in on Sunday? Usually I'm pretty used to my crazy schedule - I've been an early morning riser since my college days and I just kept pushing it earlier and earlier rather than later and later. Now I get up at 3:15 am during the week and 4:00 am on Saturday so that I can write my blog, check my emails, and get to the gym when they unlock the door. If I'm in the pool at 5:05 am (6:05 am on Saturday), my day gets off to a good start and the pool isn't super crowded until after at least 30 minutes of swimming. Still, I love the fact that I allow myself to sleep in on Sunday mornings.

I wake up really early, but I enjoy early mornings. I get my quiet time, sometimes
I write a little fiction,. I search for photos, write my blog, and slowly
wake up in time to leave the house 90 minutes later. 

I love seeing the sun rise. When I sleep later, I feel as if I'm missing the best part of the day. I also love seeing the sun set, but since I'm usually still stuck at work when that happens or I've already arrived home and am inside, I miss the incredible beauty of the light, the colors and the paintings that are made by the sun's rays and the clouds. Sunrises are usually a bit less strident across the skies - they can have the orange and pink coloring, but more often are a gentle progression through the pastels - faint yellow through to blue or grey.

I love a gentle sunrise although the bold colors of some sunrises are beautiful.
Even though sometimes the sunrise can be brilliant orange to
scarlet colors, I prefer the gentle rose through yellow to blue
ranges that often happen in our winter months. 

The colors of the sky are reflected in jewelry and ornamentation, household effects, paintings and clothing through the years. It appears that this year's fashion clothing will be lots of fringe, jewel-tone colors (think Byzantine for the colors - emerald, sapphire, ruby, all set in gold). To break the glitzy monotony, there were splashes of bold colors in olive green, neon orange and hot pink. Dark backgrounds with lots of shimmery fabrics are everywhere. There were some really pretty things on the runway at New York Fashion Week, but none of them will find their way into my closet. I love fashion but don't have any reason to wear gowns like these. I'm basically a denim and sweatshirt kind of gal.

I have this purple swimsuit along with one in
royal blue. It was hard to turn down, it's a style
I love and the two together were less than $40. 

I did indulge in a new swimsuit, though. I asked Santa for two new suits for Christmas, DH told me to buy them and give him the bill. They weren't expensive, and they'll get me through this year's pool days. I indulged earlier this week, the purple one is now getting daily use.

Disjointed thoughts are all I'm writing today. Good thing I'm not writing
any of this for a story. 

So what a meander through my disjointed thoughts this morning. The only thing pulling all of it together is color, and since I love color, I guess that'll work for me. Have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back on Monday, hopefully with a more coordinated blog post.

A Missing E-Book and Artist Assignments from LJ Friends

It's Friday, and that makes me smile through my exhaustion. I'm one step closer to the weekend and Sunday is always a sleep-in day (happy me!). I hope my swim today wakes me up a bit, otherwise I'll be asleep on my feet while I'm tagging new beads and stringing samples for our customers to choose from. It's not the most exciting aspect of my job, but a very necessary one. This time I'm stringing and tagging more than 25 colors of new 2mm round beads - itsy, bitsy bits of glass. I drop one of these and I'll never find the missing one so I'll need to be careful when I start the stringing this afternoon.

The finale of Project Runway Junior is a two-episode one, with the second episode scheduled for next week. No photos of Teiler and Hawwaa's walk-off yet. I was intrigued by the differences in their two collections and have to agree with the judges' decisions on who of the two gets to go on and compete next week for the win. It was a 90-minute episode last night, so I'm drooping a bit today with a loss of that extra 30 minutes of sleep.

I like this series a lot. This book is the 44th
novel in the series, and there are some shorter
stories in a few anthologies. By now I'm totally
invested in the characters and the setting. I'd
really like to read the darned thing! 

Last year I pre-ordered J.D. Robb's upcoming Eve Dallas novel entitled "Echoes in Death". I had it along with other Nook books on the same order. The other books went through just fine on the day I placed the order, but between the time I pre-ordered and the time the book was released, Discover sent me a new card because of a data breach. Fine ... except not so fine.

The pre-order was never processed or charged, because when the system attempted it, the card on file for the book was the old one. But, I am not allowed to purchase the book "again". Last week I spent far too long on the phone with B&N customer service (must be a help desk in India, by the accent). The agent ran my new card for the book, and said I would be getting a confirmation email. No. Hasn't happened. Still can't get the damned book downloaded into my Nook library.

So I just added B&N to Wednesday's schedule. I'm going to hop over to my local store and talk to a human being about the issue. I want to read the book, it's already been out for a month and I haven't opened the virtual cover of it yet. I'm EXTREMELY unhappy, and they're going to make it right. This will work, one way or another. Grrrrrrrr.......

Onward to some artwork instead - something pretty to brighten my day.

The following two illustrations are assignments by two LJ friends - two artists I wasn't very familiar with, so it was a joy to research and find good examples to share. The top piece was assigned by Curious Wombat who gave me an artist named Sulamith Wolfing. She paints some really lovely and evocative images. The second illustration is by Berthe Morisot who was assigned to me by Samtyr. I really loved the interplay of light in this one.

Many of this artist's paintings featured angels, but there were a few that
brought the wings in through butterflies and moths. Here, the couple are
framed by a lovely night moth. To me this is very Tolkienesque - perhaps
in the days of the Two Trees in a secluded garden. 

My second artist was Berthe Morisot, an artist from the mid-1800's. Her
works feature a lot of female figures, but I really loved the way she used
the light in this one: "At the Window". 

Here's hoping your Friday is free from frustrations, filled with joy and smiles, and that one act of kindness makes your day. Have a great one!

A Post of Time, Thanks and More Meme

The email swamp is full and I'm WAY behind. I want to thank all of you who have reviewed "Solitude", I'll be responding within a day or so. I also want to thank various friends for emailing me or responding to my blog posts. I'm trying hard to catch up. Limited time is really difficult when it is compounded by even more limited time, and, unfortunately, that's my situation right now.

My introduction to "Lord of the Rings" was the original Ballentine
editions published around 1967. I remember first reading them when
I was in my first or second year of Junior High, when many of you
would be calling Middle School. That meant I was in grade 7 or 8 at
the time. I remember weeping when Gandalf died - absolutely heartbroken. 

On the plus side:

• My V-Day weight gain is already gone (huzzah and hurrah) and there should be a new SWG Challenge waiting for me to take a look. 
• Tonight is either the final or the first of two final episodes of Project Runway Season 2, and DH has a hockey game to keep him occupied tonight. AND
• I've been playing one of my lower-level characters in Lord of the Rings Online and am remembering once again how much I really enjoy wandering the lands of Middle Earth. In my own personal cycle of Tolkien adoration (since I first read LOTR in 1967-68), I'm heading back up the roller coaster of love and addiction again. Yes, I'm a Tolkien nerd, and I'm NOT looking for a cure. 

I think I'll continue on with the 365-day meme because I'd like to get more caught up. So here we go ...

Although I get stressed by a lot of things, I also operate
really well under stress, so I self-impose stress into my
life. Probably too often for my own good. 

What stresses you?

I get stressed by thinking about governmental paperwork (even though I deal with that monthly as a business owner), going to the dentist (2X a year without fail, but I don't enjoy it), and having outside forces scheduling my time (usually consisting of DH deciding we need to do X when I had planned to do Y).

Your relationship status and how you feel about it.

Married - usually happily. Are there things I would change? Sure. But people being people, you're just not going to love 100% everything about them all of the time. I shoot for 70%-80% good times, and I'm usually pretty happy.

Where you'd like to be in ten years.

Let's start by being alive and healthy with a sturdy roof over my head, money in the bank, and food in my refrigerator. Secondarily, let's hope I'm living in a nation where it is safe to venture outside of my home, where I have good friends and fun places to go, and where I am still active physically and mentally. That'll all work!

Your views on drugs and alcohol,

Drugs can be a problem, at least the heavier-duty ones. Alcohol can also be a problem for a lot of people, but I got over my problems with it long ago and just indulge minimally now. The hangovers weren't worth the high any more. Should everything be illegal? Not necessarily.

The Horse - yeah. That pretty well describes me. The
good and the bad, both. 

What is your Zodiac sign? Does it fit your personality?

I'm a Taurus - the bull - in the standard Zodiac. Of course, there are a lot of different Zodiacs and in some changes I become an Aries. In the Chinese Zodiac I'm a Horse with a Fire indicator. I can live with all of these. It's all fun.

So there we go, another five quick entries for the 365-day meme. Nothing deep and psychologically scarring - yet! I hope all of you have a wonderful Thursday. I'm going to try and catch up on some emails (about 100 of them) and clear my schedule so that I can watch Project Runway Junior tonight. Enjoy your day!

Valentine's Day Was Lovely and The Meme Continues

How was your Valentine's Day? I arrived home to a dinner of sushi, shrimp, a single red rose and a schmaltzy card. Add to that a new NCIS and Face Off along with cupcakes for a late dessert and it was heaven. Of course, all of that salt did me no favors. I'm up three pounds in water weight this morning. Ugh! Today I'll have to be really careful about my food intake to get this right back off. But it was worth it, and my card for DH put tears in his eyes, so that was wonderful too. I hope all of you had a lovely V-Day as well.

DH surprised me with a dinner of assorted sushi,
shrimp, a single red rose and a schmaltzy card.
It totally rocked! 

I want to send a big "Thank You!" out to those friends who were kind enough to send me e-cards for Valentine's Day. You ROCK! It was extremely kind of you to do so and I loved seeing e-cards in my in-box.

I haven't done the 365-day meme in a while, so let's catch up with a few of those queries, shall we?

Security can come in many forms. I still
have two teddy bears and cuddle with them
more often than you'd think. It's a wonderful
stress reliever. 

Today I felt really secure knowing ....

I felt, and feel, really secure knowing that we've worked very hard for a future where we won't have to break our backs to afford groceries and a roof over our heads. That's so very important as we get older. Security is what can make those senior years worth living.

Whose life did you make a difference in today?

Well, my day hasn't actually started yet, so I suspect no-one's at this point in time. However, I do give regularly to a variety of charities, so I'll just say that I made a difference through those contributions.

What is your super power?

I apparently can frighten people with just a look. "THE LOOK" can stop people from ranting and raving immediately, stop running children in their tracks, and shock people into calming down when necessary. Such power! LOL

What is annoying you?

I'll have to watch everything I eat today because I had too much salt and too many carbs for yesterday's dinner. But no choice. That's highly annoying. Additionally, I have an Income Tax appointment for the business taxes late tonight after the store closes for the day. Oh joy! (NOT)

What would make (have made) today perfect?

It would be nice if all of my errands went really smoothly. I'm certainly not counting on that, but it would be really nice.

So that takes me through January's entries in the 365-day meme. I'd probably better get going on February's later this week so that I don't fall too far behind. Have a wonderful Wednesday and keep on keeping on. It's all good!

Finally - Project Runway Junior Recap!

A rather strange way to show you the outfits from last Thursday's Project Runway Junior, but I was finally able to find the photos to share with all of you and since there are only six designers, this will be fast and easy. It's a little late, but call it a Valentine's Gift. Since I'm so late, I'm not worrying about spoilers, but if you are, here's your warning - SPOILERS BELOW ... There - you've been warned.

Chelsea worked in leather - blue, red, orange, and
a couple of small pieces of yellow. Very peek-a-boo
with selective areas of skin allowed to show
through at the bodice. 

First of all, Chelsea. She worked with four colors of leather. Originally she was going to do multi-colored pieced strips of rectangles, but freaked out with how long that was taking for a one-day challenge (obviously she's never pieced a quilt together - there are many faster ways to accomplish what she was trying to do). She went back to the drawing board and cut out large stars to piece together instead. It was a winning look for her.

Chris has never seen a pattern he doesn't look, but with this
challenge, that was all right. His colorful palette worked
with the street art he had been assigned. 

Chris continued his "war of the patterns" signature style with this long, light-weight split hoodie over a totally "meh" dress.  The hoodie was split to the waist in the back. It was OK, not bad for a one-day challenge, and it fit his street art image, so he was safe.

Chris and the other judges wanted at least two layers
pulled off the bottom of this cascading dress. The only
part of Izzy's offering I liked was the top. I thought that
was really cute. 

Izzy channeled Flamenco dresses for her offering this week, but not as nicely done as a Flamenco dress usually is. She's got this amazingly tall, statuesque model, and made a riot of tiered drape. It was fine (if a bit overdone), but not that interesting. The only thing I really liked on this was the treatment of the fabric at the shoulders. Actually, the entire top was nice. But too many layers on the bottom. She was declared safe.

Teiler - take an unforgiving fabric and make changes and
more changes to it and it will look like a piece of drek
by the end of it. That's what he has here - a real mess. 

Teiler - OMG, what was he thinking? He chose an unforgiving fabric - velvet - and then designed so poorly that once again it didn't fit his model. He even added a panel into the sides of the pants to make them looser, but it didn't work well. Of course, velvet doesn't take well to all that manipulation. A poor design with poor fabric choice, just bad all around. He was on the bottom, but can possibly make it into the final if his collection wows the judges when compared to the other bottom dweller ...

Hawwaas' designs are being called "juvenile" by the
judges. Of course, she is a teen-aged designer, but
I'm getting tired of seeing the same design being
presented week after week. "yawn"

Hawwaas - same old, same old. Haven't we seen that color blocking short top and cylinder skirt before? In fact, haven't we seen it several times before? I had hopes for this young, local designer, but she's really disappointing me. She's got her box, she's comfortable in it, and she won't step outside of it for anything. Boring! She has the possibility of being one of the final four if her collection is better than Teiler's, but she's still on the bottom and on the edge of elimination.

Molly - hmmm - I'm looking for the color. Looking ...
looking ... nope! Not seeing it. She put little rhinestones
on it to designate stars in the sky which were in her
street art piece, and then went back to her norm of
black and white. Bye-bye, Molly. B/W in a Color
challenge won't win. 

Finally, Molly. The challenge was to make clothing that would reflect the colors and style of a specific, assigned, piece of street art. I guarantee her street art was NOT black and white. The dress just didn't cut it, and that flowing cape looked like a serious after-thought. Molly was sent home because she refused to push herself and design in color. It's too bad, I hated to see it, but she really needs to break out and also to show some enthusiasm. As a designer, she was boring!

I hope each of you have a lovely Valentine's Day. Chocolate and
flowers - what's not to like? 

So there you have it - late, but delivered. Have a great Tuesday, it's Valentine's Day and DH usually cooks me dinner on V-Day and gives me a couple of cards. I guess I'd better do a bit of card shopping myself! Hope your Valentine's Day is lovely and filled with joy.

Playing Games and a Quick View of the Grammys

Sunday was a really relaxing day, although I did cook breakfast and I did sweep and wash the kitchen floor. Still, all told, it was a fun day. DH and I sat at our computers and played LotRO (Lord of the Rings Online) for a few hours. We didn't interact much, I'm playing a middle-level character while his characters are topped out at twice my level, but it was fun catching up with an old character I've always loved and rarely played. I'm not much of a game player, my preference is to read, but every few months I drop back into Middle Earth and play some more. DH is much more constant that I, but he finds games much more important to him.

I like free games. Sure you can buy extra lives
or enhancements, but basically, the game is
a free app on Google Play. Free is good! 

Do you play any games regularly? I have been playing "Cookie Jam" on my phone and my tablet because it's relatively quick per level and silly enough that I don't have to be heavily invested. I also play color and pattern games like "Blendoku" and "Flow Free", but that, added to LotRO on my desktop computer, are the limit of what I enjoy playing. I'm far more apt to pull up my latest e-read than any game.

The premise of Blendoku is easy - put the colors in order using
the chips already placed as guidance. It can get quite complex and
deal with very small shade differences too, though, so it can be
quite challenging. It's one game where I find working in a darkened room
is better. 

My parents were avid "Bridge" players and Dad taught me both "Bridge" and "Tarok" as I was growing up. Although I played through High School, I was never very good at it and never enjoyed it very much. My preference of poker is the video version or the slot machine version, my preference for Blackjack is at a casino, either at a table or at a machine. I'm not fond of strategy games. Over the years I've had friends who have participated in monthly rotating poker games, but even though I would enjoy the social aspect, the actual playing would bore me to tears.

Contract Bridge is a game that my parents loved. DH used
to play every lunch hour at his old job, so he loves it too.
He now plays a video version on his phone, but complains
that the app really sucks. There aren't a lot of choices for
him for this game, though. 

On a final note, last night the Grammy Awards were presented and broadcast on TV. I've heard good things about Beyonce's performance, and also heard that Adele really blew her tribute to George Michael. I've looked at about 100 of the various dresses and outfits, but haven't decided what to pull out to show. One thing I can say ... there was a lot of skin - shirtless under jackets, hiding behind geometric panels, and compressed in tops that looked just shy of torture devices more appropriate to the Eternal Dungeon. I'll try to take a slower look tonight and might have some fashion photos to share later this week, but no promises.

Adele looked wonderful on the Red Carpet. This olivine color suited her
well, and I loved her hairstyle. That's a good thing because she won - a lot!
Congrats to a great vocal star! (Also very happy that Megadeth won for
Best Metal Performance.) 

So have a wonderful Monday. It's a week filled with income tax appointments, Valentine's Day, and general sales and cleaning at the shop. I'll be busy and have my hands full, so maybe grabbing a quick few minutes here and there in Middle Earth is OK. Have a fun day!