Spam

And I only wished I were talking about the tasty spiced ham...

At work we have quarantined emails that might be considered spam. I normally look at them all because on occasion an email from a vendor gets caught in the shark net. Mostly it's crap, but today it took the cake ...

I have to admit, I laughed out loud on this one!

4 years old

Happy Birthday Mini!

We call her the "carpet."

Book Review: Behind the Scenes at the Museum

I'm kind of a sucker for these "life" stories; you know, books that tell stories that span the characters' life --as opposed to the "snippet in time" ones. But that's not why I picked up this book. I picked it up because I was making my way through the paperback book section at the library in Alpha order and picked up A for Kate Atkinson: Behind the Scenes at the Museum. She authored a book my mom gave me to read --which I haven't.

Anyway, this is the first book by this author, although you'd never know it because how many would start off their book like this:

I exist! I am conceived to the chimes of midnight on the clock on the mantelpiece in the room across the hall.

Ruby's conception in 1951 is the beginning of the book, followed by her narrative "in utero." I was immediately hooked. What follows is stories of Ruby's like in York living Above the Shop with her parents --who run a Pet Store-- and her 2 older sisters.

Peppered in between Ruby's stories are tales of her family, her mother, grandmother, and great grandmother and their children. Momentos of the family get explained in detail during these stories, as do the characters that make up Ruby's family and might explain for some of the traits that continue on.

Some of the stories are sad, they are told between the late 1800's through the 2nd WW. You understand better how these wars really ripped apart England and it's families. But through it all, the women survive telling their tales of woe and the unfortunate men they had to marry -- drunks, philanderers, bores... if it wasn't for Atkinson's heroine and her humor despite all, I would have gotten too depressed on these women's lot in life. What were they to do? Have more babies? But through it all there's a positive vibe that Ruby would be different, and make her way in life different than the others.

In one of the chapters, the narrator describes how her mother made tea while her dad watched saying "it was 1959 after all."

But I enjoyed this book, it was fun to read and makes me want to pick up other books be her -- or read the one my mom gave me!

If I had a million dollars ...

... the kitties would have a new bed!I just read about Kittypods in the paper and I thought they were too cool for school. Guinness just meowed, "Buy me one!"

Speaking of Guinness, he was getting into the Masters this weekend. He loves the TV more than any cat I've ever met, although his favorites are: football, golf, and Vince Vaughn movies.

Metra tales: Stuck on the train

Thursday I left work and took the 3:00 p.m. train -- I had a headache and hadn't eaten lunch except for about 4 pepto-bismal pills, so I just needed to get home and relax. I practically leapt on to the train with glee and started devouring my new good book (Behind the Scenes at the Museum), but that joy was short lived because 10 minutes into our trip, the train stopped: mechanical failure.

After 40 minutes of waiting, I sat talking to Matt who just "loves" talking to me when I am in a bad mood, but couldn't find a way out of the conversation. In a huff I told him that the train conductor said that the "next train would be pushing us into the station so hopefully I wouldn't have to wait much longer." Just as soon as the words left my lips, the high pitch sound of a train horn and the howling of wheels against metal told me that the next train decided to go around us at 80 mph instead. "Oh my god, that f&#^ing train just went past us..."

"I'll let you go," Matt finally found his out.

So we sat ... and sat ... One and a half hours later, they finally sent a mechanic to help us out. He got the engine started enough just to get us to the next stop where we all had to get off and stand and wait for next train to appear in the piss pouring rain... and we waited and waited.

After the wind had blown the rain to successfully drench my entire backside, jeans, and jacket, the next train emerged from the rain like a beacon from heaven. I never saw so many happy wet people waiting for a train. At this rate, I was going to make the 5:09 p.m. train home -- I haven't gotten the hint yet that when it rains, it pours. Literally. This train stopped about 5 times in the 1 mile in takes to get downtown. Happy people becam mad again and for the first time no one cared if they heard a F$&K come out of anyone's mouth.

I finally made it downtown to catch the 5:42 p.m. train home, which was 10 minutes late. When I got off the train at my stop, I realized that my coat and pants had never dried from waiting outside. You know that uncomfortable feeling of walking in wet clothes ... it's disgusting. But it didn't mater because there was a rain storm outside that made sure all the dry parts of me were now wet too... and I sloshed home in the rain, my sockless feet wet and cold. It made me think of the time when M & I walked down the mountain in the rain**

**Click here for that story.

I walked in the door at 6:45 p.m. To-date, my longest trip home from work (3h 45minutes).

If I had a milliion dollars...

... I would take any one of these.

Last week, I finally stopped into Design Within Reach after having worked nearby for over a year. It's not often I walk into a store where a chair can cost you about $3000.

I found a reproduction of the Barcelona Chair at a well known furniture outlet near me for $500 (floor model).

Painting

Matt and I went to Saugatuck, Michigan for our 3rd anniversary. Besides being a quaint small town on the lake, it's also filled with art galleries, so it was difficult not coming home with a "souvenir." Matt and I fell in love with this painting by an Italian artist who divides his time between Florence and Michigan; for the last 2 years it has sat unframed just waiting for a wall it can finally call home.

Well, finally we decided to get it framed 2 weeks ago. I realized that Matt has a wonderful eye, because I pulled so many frames to try out and Matt instinctively picked out the ones that worked the best. So here it is, framed and matted (linen matting); it's hanging over the fireplace now and it makes the room look oddly "adult."