Unconscious Mutterings (Week 287)

LunaNiña says :: and I think . . .

1. Memory :: . . . all alone in the moonlight / I can smile at the old days / I was beautiful then; Grizabella the Glamour Cat



2. Original :: Da Vinkie (Ok –you had to be there. It's from an old Red Skelton sketch.)
3. Exclusively :: mine (would you say I'm a little self-involved?)
4. Listings :: TV Guide / telephone book / McCarthy hearings
5. Bucket :: Hyacinth in "Keeping Up Appearances" / the NBA / Ricky Nelson (his had a hole in it)
6. Knight :: white / Dark / in shining armor / Shirley / in white satin
7. Dusty :: my mother's kitty before Tubby / a description of our condo / the old "Range Busters" cowboy movies (with "Crash," "Dusty," and "Alibi")
8. Choice :: pro- (and I am)
9. Sunglight :: sunglight is not a word
10. Change of plans :: something you hope doesn't happen when you're building a house or fighting a war

Friday Fill-Ins #82

This week's Friday Fill-Ins were a little challenging. Or maybe it's just that my brain doesn't really start functioning until much later in the day. Anyway, here goes:

1. I believe whatever doesn't kill you is definitely what you should try to do.

2. If you're good at something, let's hope it's legal.

3. Why so glum, chum? rude, dude? sad, dad? happy, pappy? serious, Tiberius? Sorry – I've been watching too many World War II-era movies on the Turner Classic Movie Channel.

4. Something is out there, it's trying to get in!!!!!

5. If my life were a sitcom, it would be titled Gidget Grows Up and Turns Into a Ditsy Old Broad.
6. Sitting on my back porch [if you don't have one, use your imagination] I see

Well, you said use my imagination, right?

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to NOT going to a condo association meeting – that was last night and it was hell, tomorrow my plans include probably shopping and maybe a movie and Sunday, I want to get some reading done!

Random Photo Monday: Man on the Moon

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon. July 20 or 21, 1969.
Depending on how you calculate time in space.
Photographed by Neil A. Armstrong
Apollo 11 space mission

This photo is in the public domain.
Downloaded from Wikipedia Commons media file repository.

Unconscious Mutterings (Week 286)

LunaNina says :: and I think…

1. Flicker :: woodpecker
2. Styling :: fashion mags (And it's just about time for the big Fall issues to start appearing.)
3. Episode :: occurrence, installment, portion
4. Sexier :: dumber
5. Studious :: not dumber
6. Mushroom :: cloud, pizza, soup, my grandmother's chuck steak with mushroom gravy
7. 8 minutes :: speed dating (No, I've never tried it myself.)
8. Bald :: as a coot (No, I'm not bald myself. Yet.)
9. Immunity :: from prosecution (I've definitely gotta stop watching all those Law & Order re-runs.)
10. Sectioned :: segmented, divided, grapefruit, worm, something done to loonies emotionally disturbed folks in the UK

More Unconscious Mutterings:
Week 284
Week 283

Friday Fill-Ins #81

Wow, July is already half over and here it is Friday again. Tempus sure does fugit. Well, here goes another installment of Friday Fill-Ins.

1. If I could be a fly on the wall I would probably get swatted or sprayed with Raid – some flies just don't have any luck at all.

2. Jealousy is Othello's tragic flaw. Can you tell I was an English major?

3. When I see a shooting star my wish would be that wishing on a shooting star really worked.

4. I'd rather be Bugs Bunny than Mickey Mouse any day!

5. Certain songs when I hear them make me wanna slit my wrists. Oops, make that "sing along."

6. If time were in a bottle ___________. OK – I really liked Jim Croce, but I was never terribly sure what saving time in a bottle was all about. So if time were in a bottle, I'd probably just be really, really confused.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to relaxing with a Netflix DVD – I think this week it's "A Scanner Darkly" with Keanu Reeves, tomorrow my plans include shopping and possibly getting my hair cut, and Sunday, I want to get some reading done (maybe by the pool)!

Random Photo Monday: More Snaps from Shenandoah

Just a few more photos from our recent foray into the wilds of Shenandoah National Park.

The mountain laurel was just past its peak at this time of year, but still pretty impressive.

This time we managed to complete one of the more picturesque hikes – down, down the mountain to see Dark Hollow Falls. The falls aren't actually all that spectacular, as waterfalls go, but the surroundings certainly are. And it's a fairly strenuous hike for someone not used to climbing – the trip down isn't so bad, but going back it's uphill all the way!

A portion of the falls, about midway down.

Kayla again (my travel doll) at the bottom of the falls with her human companion.

Just a reminder – as if I needed it.

Friday Fill-Ins #80

How in the world did it get to be Friday again already? Time for another Friday Fill-In:

1. Oh, I can't wait until I have a day without a thunderstorm.

2. Chaos and bottled water is the first thing I see when I open my refrigerator.

3. I never leave home without wondering if I've forgotten something – and usually going back to check.

4. If I were a condiment, I would be ______ because ______. I would never be a condiment – I'm definitely a main course.

5. Let's face it, most of modern life is really high up on my list of pet peeves.

6. The last thing I thought of before I went to bed was "Uh-oh, I've fallen asleep on the sofa again and it's 3AM and I've left the TV on and I really need to get my life in order but for now I'll just take a Zantac and go to bed."

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to doing some outdoor grilling if the weather will cooperate, tomorrow my plans include finally picking up my new eyeglasses and Sunday, I want to get some reading done!

Random Photo Monday: Bear With Me

Well, we spent July 4th in Shenandoah National Park this year. Just a couple of days, but it was fun. Lots of hiking and climbing and dodging the thunderstorms. I'll get a few more pix up in a day or so, but just a couple for now.

After thirty years of visits to Shenandoah, I saw my first real live bear this time. So I'm putting up one of the shots I took, to commemorate the occasion. And also a photo of my travel doll, Kayla, with a couple of friends she made on the trip.

Related posts:
Random Photo Monday: Kayla
Random Photo Monday: More from Shenandoah

Unconscious Mutterings (Week 284)

LunaNiña says :: and I think...

1. Notification :: bad news; good news; Publishers' Clearing House
2. Cheat :: hanging chads (Well, the first thing that actually came to mind was "George Bush." So "hanging chads" isn't quite as unconscious, but it's more polite.)
3. Top Ten:: Letterman Show
4. Draft :: first; NFL; beer; dodger; caught in the
5. Unbelievable :: Obama; McCain (Let's just make that politicians in general.)
6. Cheap :: thrills
7. Spontaneous :: generation
8. Harass :: spam; telemarketers
9. Lipstick :: smudge; Revlon; Connie Francis
10. Transpire :: high school biology class

Friday Fill-Ins #79

I was out hiking around in Shenandoah National Park on Friday, and nowhere near a computer. So I'm a day late. Well, almost two days late. Oh, well, here are my Fill-Ins for this week:

1. Holidays in the summer are an abundance of riches.

2. Salmon filets or T-bone steaks are my favorite things to grill. Of course, since I really don't eat beef anymore, it looks like the salmon is pulling ahead in the competition.

3. My thoughts are scattered and they're cloudy. Oops, sorry. That's Paul Simon's thoughts I'm thinking of. My thoughts are obviously plagiaristic and derivative.

4. Being with my hubby is what I'm most looking forward to this weekend! It's what I most look forward to every weekend.

5. My favorite book so far this summer is 2010: Odyssey Two, by Arthur C. Clarke.

6. Not having to brave the Metro or the Washington DC traffic is the best way to begin a day.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to _____, tomorrow my plans include _____ and Sunday, I want to _____! Well, since it's already nearly Sunday, I'll just say that on Sunday I'm looking forward to getting some reading done (which is what I always look forward to on Sunday). Oh, and also watching the men's finals at Wimbledon (go, Roger!).

A New Meme: Unconscious Mutterings (Week #283)

Well, it's new to me anyway.

I generally pass up most of the recurring memes I come across on the 'net, because – well, mainly just because I can't remember to keep up with them. But I keep finding new ones that look interesting – like this one. It's called Unconscious Mutterings and here's what the host, Luna Niña says about it:

Free association is described as a "psychoanalytic procedure in which a person is encouraged to give free rein to his or her thoughts and feelings, verbalizing whatever comes into the mind without monitoring its content." Over time, this technique is supposed to help bring forth repressed thoughts and feelings that the person can then work through to gain a better sense of self.

That's an admirable goal, but for the purposes of this exercise, we're just hoping to have a little fun with the technique. Each week I'll post ten words to which you can respond to with the first thing that comes to mind.

To find out more, just visit Luna Niña's web site and read the FAQ page. The posts go up on Sundays, but you don't have to respond on the same day – you can take as long as you like. As Luna Niña says, "there are no rules. . . . There are no right or wrong answers. Don't limit yourself to one word responses; just say everything that pops into your head."

Well, I'm not sure I'll be coming back every week for this. But saying the first thing that pops into my head sounds like something I can handle, so here's my first "muttering":

1. Loneliness :: a bad thing, one of the dangers of solitude (a good thing)


2. Traffic :: Steve Winwood, Washington DC


3. Chaos :: confusion, discord, theory in physics


4. Burp :: Tupperware


5. 500 :: Indianapolis, Ford, Fortune


6. Movie :: Saturday night, Steve McQueen


7. Coma :: Michael Crichton, Cosmo Kramer


8. Bark :: doggies


9. Stare :: concentrate, hypnotize, intimidate, kitties


10. Angelina :: Joan Baez, Bob Dylan ("Farewell, Angelina / The bells of the crown / Are being stolen by bandits / I must follow the sound . . . ")

Look like fun? What would your unconscious mutterings look like? Or is that too scary to contemplate?