Missy & The New(t)est Gift

Missy sleeping in her chair.  She is spoiled.

The other day I was working on my computer.  Then, after a quick trip to the bathroom, I come back to both of my cats crouched down below my chair.  Instantly piquing my curiosity... you can tell when your furry friends have got something.  I turned on the overhead light for better inspection.  This is what I found...

I grabbed a papertowel, picked it up, went out the back door, and trotted off to the wooded area out back where I let it go.

When I went back to my computer I discovered something else...

Oh, good Lord!

It's missing tail... and it was moving!  It was twitching and curling.  Pretty freaky!  Especially when I was trying to pick it up.

Come to think of it... I just took the garbage out because something was stinking up the kitchen.  I couldn't remember putting anything in it that would make such an awful smell... until just now!

Later in the evening I was doing laundry.  I was trying to fold this comforter to put away and Missy was trying to crawl on it as I was trying to fold it.  So I laid it down where she promptly settled for a snooze.

Pasta & Italian Sausage w/ Spinach, Onion, Garlic Sauce

I made this tonight for dinner.  I was expecting to use whole wheat pasta, but when I opened the cupboard, I noticed I had some leftover tri-color pasta (plain/tomato/spinach) that was taking up space and decided to rid myself of it instead.

It's pasta and Italian sausage with a sauce/not sauce of EVOO, spinach, garlic & onion.  **I say sauce/not sauce because it's not something you want to ladle on... just enough to toss and coat the pasta.**

I cooked some Italian sausage earlier, and had it resting. I also had the pasta boiling. 

Then I put some olive oil down in a small saute pan (this time I used Red Pepper flavored EVOO), added diced onions, frozen chopped spinach, fresh chopped garlic, and a couple of shakes of rosemary, basil, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic salt and pepper.  When it was ready, I took half the saute mixture and put it in my Magic Bullet with a splash or two of fresh olive oil and puréed it.  Added that back into the pan.  I wanted to maintain some chunkiness to the sauce with the the onions and spinach.

I sliced one of the sausages in half lengthwise and cut it up into bite-sized pieces.  Put that back into the pan I had cooked it in, added a few spoons of the sauce, then threw in a couple spoons of pasta.  Mixed thoroughly, plated, and added a couple shakes of shredded parmesan cheese.  Waa-laa!  Dinner is served.

Deee-licious!

...and you know the leftovers are going to be just as good!

"LOST" - Everybody Loves Hugo

Apr. 13 Episode: Everybody Loves Hugo

At Libby's gravesite, Hurley is wearing a brown t-shirt... swoosh to the flash-sideways, he's still wearing brown, but now it's a casual dress shirt. Just thought it was interesting...

Back to the island and in the middle of a disagreement with Ilana... BOOM!.. she blows up. Poor Hurley... second time he's been traumatized by someone blowing up while they're off on a tangent. And what the heck do you think is in that bag he picked up out of Ilana's stuff?

The last time we say this bag, Ilana was putting Jacob's ashes into it.

 

Then we saw Miles getting Jacob's story like he was reading a bag of tea leaves.

Is that what Hurley saw when he opened it, Jacob's ashes... or was there other stuff too?  Why the heck would Hugo keep a bag of dust?  He didn't know it was Jacob's ashes... he was at the Temple.  So, again, what's the deal with Ilana's bag?

Then there's Desmond! This calm, collected Desmond is a little unsettling, albeit in an interesting 'I wanna know what he knows' way. In previous episodes, Desmond always reminded me of one of those small yappy dogs that shake all the time. Always chaotic and "I don't know what's going on, I'm just trying to get through it and survive'. Now it's like he's driven with some sort of specific purpose and I want to know what he's thinking! What's his game plan? He went with Sayid... and now John, way too easily.

When Hurley blew up the "Black Rock"... whoa, dude! Miles: "Warning might have been nice there, Hugo." Hurley's response... "I did say run." LMAO!! Note: Hugo says, "Dead people are more reliable than live people." Tell that to John Locke! The dead people that were talking to him were manipulating liars.

The appearance of the "wild-child"... this time a dark-haired boy carrying a staff... wearing the same outfit the blonde boy was wearing. The way he smiled at Desmond...? Like he was pleased... about what? That Desmond was here and things were going according to plan, or maybe just pleased that John was so irritated with his presence? John was none to pleased to see this kid, it really seemed to irk him; unlike the blond boy, whom didn't smile, but turned and ran with John right behind him.

Random thinking... 2 boys, one blond, one dark. ???
Jacob - MIB
Jack - Sawyer
Aaron - Charlie Hume

My mind keeps wanting to go back to Aaron and what his significance was. Early on it was stressed that it was important that only Claire raise him...

Claire's First Visit W/Psychic (video)

Claire's Second Visit W/Psychic (video)

Claire's Third Visit W/Psychic (video)

Lost - s01e10 - Raised By Another:  In her "dream" John said, "he (the baby) was your responsibility, but you gave him away, Claire. Everyone pays the price now." He looked up and one eye was a black stone, the other a white stone.

Claire's Dream (video)

What's up with that??  What happened to all that?  What about Aaron and his role in all this?

I've been reading and listening to other people's (blogs/podcasts) and some seem to question what Alpert asked Hugo to ask Jacob about the island. What is the island? They're like... oooo, what does that mean? Uh, the island is the cork! Remember the metaphor Jacob gave Richard in Ab Aeterno.  Richard was testing Hurley... he didn't believe Jacob was there talking to Hurley... so, prove it, Hurley; what did Jacob say the island is?

I gasped when MIB/NotLocke pushed Desmond down the well... I wasn't surprised that he'd do something like that, just didn't expect it.

Notice that Desmond said he had a son, Charlie. Charlie doesn't exist in this time 'whatever'. Then when Desmond ran John Locke down... hoo-wee! Did not expect that. Thought he wanted to talk with Locke. My mind is spinning over this one.

Eclair Cake

Eclair Cake

1 Lb. (box) Graham Crackers
2 - 4 Oz. (instant) French Vanilla Pudding
3½ C. Milk
9 Oz. Cool Whip

Butter bottom of 9"x13"x2" baking pan. Line pan bottom with graham crackers. Mix pudding and milk until thickened, fold cool whip into mixture. Pour 1/2 of mixture over cracker layer, smooth, then add second layer of graham crackers, then pour remaining pudding and smooth, cover with third layer of crackers. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Frost.


Frosting:
6 Tbsp. Powdered Cocoa
2 Tsp. Light Karo Syrup
2 Tbsp. Soft Margarine
3 Tbsp. Milk
2 Tbsp. Oil
2 Tsp. Vanilla
1½ C. Powdered Sugar

Mix well, spread over top layer of graham crackers. Refrigerate finished product for 24 hours.

"LOST" - Rose & Bernard

Note: I have brought this up, a few times... What happened to Rose & Bernard when the bomb went off? Did they get left back in 1977?? And that I think the cave "Adam & Eve" is Rose & Bernard.

Well check this out! I came across this and thought WOW!!

When Sawyer, Kate, and Alex were rescuing Karl from the brainwashing room there was some speech you couldn't make out through the noise. I came across a video of that being played backwards and the voice says:

"Only fools are enslaved by time and space."

Someone states in a comment that it is an anagram for, "Bones of Nadlers may lay lost deep in cave."

Rose & Bernard's last name is Nadler.



Here is the link to the brainwashing room video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZmAz86uHq4

"LOST" - Happily Ever After & My Ramblings

Apr. 6 Episode: Happily Ever After


OH MY... OH MY GOSH!!! My mind is racing over so much information.
Someone's blog had mentioned that the island time and the flash-sideways were bleeding more and more into each other every episode. I wasn't really buying it... until last week when Sun looked into the mirror. I mentioned it in my last "LOST" post, her look was just... odd.

 

Well now I'm a believer. And I'm also wow'd by the fact that I had just re-watched s3e8: Flashes Before Your Eyes and how the interaction of Desmond with Charles Widmore and Eloise Hawking jumped out at me in a way they didn't the first time.
I was not surprised when Desmond walked into Charles Widmore's office as his right-hand man... kind of got the feeling when he was in the limo. Exactly what I would expect from "LOST".

The MacCutcheon scotch keeps showing up... when Desmond meets with Widmore in his office in the flash-sideways.

In Season 3, Episode 8: Flashes Before Your Eyes...

 

...on the island when Hurley and Charlie got Desmond drunk to find out his secret.

Also in his flashback when Widmore told Desmond, "Because you, Hume, will never be a great man."

Also at the bar after breaking up with Penny.



 



Oh, and check out the art piece on the wall in Widmore's office... it's like a child's rendition of the Dharma barracks... a cabin, the fence, the jungle surrounding, the monster behind the fence, namaste written backwards across the top almost like we're see the backside of the painting, and a man hanging down from the top.

 

Oh, huh... upon closer inspection it's a polar bear, not a monster... and the upside down man is an upside down statue, I believe.

 There's other paintings of similar style... would like to see a close-up of those.

 

Also noticed how Desmond seems to move between the chairs and the artwork moves from one wall to another.  At first Desmond is in the chair on the right and the bar is on the wall to his right.  Then he looks to his right and the paintings that were to his left are now on the wall to his right, you also see he is now sitting in the left chair.  Notice the picture behind his head is really dark... look at the next pic and now it's an entirely different picture and the bar is now beside him on his right.  Does this mean something or is this just bad staging that no one picked up on in editing.

On a side note - Why didn't it ring any bells with Charlie when he was on the island and they found the hatch... if this weird conversation with Desmond about hatches, a computer and a button on an island had happened (after the meeting with Widmore), you'd think he'd have a nagging déjà vu kind of thing that would have evoked that memory.

The event hardly seems forgetful.

I wonder, did Desmond and Penny name their son Charlie after Charlie Pace or Penny's father, Charles? I choose to believe it was after Desmond's friend, Charlie Pace, who, in a sense, brought them back together.


Back to this episode... when Desmond and Charlie crashed into the water and Charlie put his hand up...

...and Desmond had the 'memory of Charlie with "NOT PENNY'S BOAT" on his hand.

Whoa! It's all coming to a head... the original timeline and this flash-sideways 'timeline' ARE bleeding into each other! Then when he started having flashes of Penny and his son... I got goose bumps and teared up a little. For me, Desmond and Penny's love seemed so strong... I knew she'd find him someday, and when she finally did in s04e13 - There's No Place Like Home (P2)... oh my, that was one of my favorite scenes. When he realized it was her... and then she realized she had finally found him. The "is this really real" moment. To the reunion kiss.

Right up there with the s04e05 - The Constant... when Desmond was on the boat and made the call to Penny.

Now check out Widmore's office in the flash-sideways...

 

Basically the same picture... one framed in white, the other in black.  Mmmm-hmm!


So... Eloise Hawking is now Mrs. Widmore... and Daniel Faraday is now Daniel Widmore... and Penny Widmore is now Penny Milton. Eloise tells Desmond, "Someone has clearly affected the way you see things. This is a serious problem. It is, in fact, a violation." A violation?? Of what?

Something bothers me about this conversation... Something about Eloise has been constant throughout the entire show... no matter what timeline (past, present, or future?) with the exception of the beginning when she was on the island as a young woman (in 1954 when she was Ellie)... she seems to be the only person that knows or seems to have a complete knowledge of what IS going on/what IS to happen. That brings me to Daniel's journal? Does she have it and has had it since she shot him in 1977?

She knew the path leading Desmond to the island, she knew that Daniel was meant to be or needed to be a scientist instead of a musician, that all the women in his life would be terribly hurt, she sent him to the island knowing that she will eventually shoot and kill him, she gave him that journal at his graduation with the message inside, "No matter what, remember, I will always love you. Mother". In s05e14 - The Variable, when Eloise met Penny in the hospital after Desmond was shot, Eloise told her, "For the first time, in a long time, I don't know what's going to happen next."

In the original timeline, Eloise is helping to get the Oceanic 6, plus Ben, plus, Desmond, plus John Locke's body back to the island.  In this flash-sideways she's trying to stop Desmond from seeking out the what?... the truth?... reality?... it's as if she wants this timeline to become the reality.  Then again, in this reality, her son is alive and healthy and she is married to Widmore.  She seems to have a lot of wealth and power.  She obviously doesn't want to give up all that she's gained.

Is it a good thing or a bad thing that Desmond went with Sayid? And in the flash-sideways, he's going to start 'waking up' everyone on his flight... "I just need to show them something." I take that as how Charlie had to show HIM something!  Things are gonna get interesting!

Black conservatives ripped for supporting Tea Party movement

Black conservatives ripped for supporting Tea Party movement
Associated Press - 4/7/2010 6:15:00 AM

ALBANY, NY - They've been called Oreos, traitors and Uncle Toms, and are used to having to defend their values. Now black conservatives are really taking heat for their involvement in the mostly white Tea Party movement -- and for having the audacity to oppose the policies of the nation's first black president.

"I've been told I hate myself. I've been called an Uncle Tom. I've been told I'm a spook at the door," said Timothy F. Johnson, chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, a group of black conservatives who support free market principles and limited government.

"Black Republicans find themselves always having to prove who they are. Because the assumption is the Republican Party is for whites and the Democratic Party is for blacks," he said.

Johnson and other black conservatives say they were drawn to the Tea Party movement because of what they consider its commonsense fiscal values of controlled spending, less taxes and smaller government. The fact that they're black — or that most tea partyers are white — should have nothing to do with it, they say.

"You have to be honest and true to yourself. What am I supposed to do, vote Democratic just to be popular? Just to fit in?" asked Clifton Bazar, a 45-year-old New Jersey freelance photographer and conservative blogger.

Opponents have branded the Tea Party as a group of racists hiding behind economic concerns — and reports, as yet unproven, that some tea partyers were lobbing racist slurs at black congressmen during last month's heated healthcare vote give them ammunition.

But these black conservatives don't consider racism representative of the movement as a whole — or race a reason to support it.

Angela McGlowan, a black congressional candidate from Mississippi, said her Tea Party involvement is "not about a black or white issue."

"It's not even about Republican or Democrat. from my standpoint," she told The Associated Press. "All of us are taxed too much."

Still, she's in the minority. As a nascent grassroots movement with no registration or formal structure, there are no racial demographics available for the Tea Party movement; it's believed to include only a small number of blacks and Hispanics.

Some black conservatives credit President Barack Obama's election — and their distaste for his policies — with inspiring them and motivating dozens of black Republicans to plan political runs in November.

For black candidates like McGlowan, Tea Party events are a way to reach out to voters of all races with her conservative message. "I'm so proud to be a part of this movement! I want to tell you that a lot of people underestimate you guys," the former national political commentator for Fox News told the cheering crowd at a Tea Party rally in Nashville, Tenn., in February.

Tea Party voters represent a new model for these black conservatives — away from the black, liberal Democratic base located primarily in cities, and toward a black and white conservative base that extends into the suburbs.

Black voters have overwhelmingly backed Democratic candidates, support that has only grown in recent years. In 2004, presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry won 88 percent of the black vote; four years later, 95 percent of black voters cast ballots for Obama.

Black conservatives don't want to have to apologize for their divergent views. "I've gotten the statement, 'How can you not support the brother?'" said David Webb, an organizer of New York City's Tea Party 365, Inc. movement and a conservative radio personality.

Since Obama's election, Webb said some black conservatives have even resorted to hiding their political views. "I know of people who would play the (liberal) role publicly, but have their private opinions," he said. "They don't agree with the policy but they have to work, live and exist in the community ... Why can't we speak openly and honestly if we disagree?"

Racism and ObamaCare

Racism and ObamaCare
Star Parker - Syndicated Columnist - 4/5/2010 9:25:00 AM

Like chewing gum stuck to the heel of your shoe, racism seems to be stuck forever to American public discourse. No matter what we do or what happens, somebody will find a racial motive.

Democrats have passed government healthcare with no Republican votes. Their leadership threatened and bribed their own members to eek out a majority. They resorted to an arcane procedure that maybe 100 people in the whole country can explain in order to pass a massive bill that polls show a majority of Americans don't want.

The federal government, for the first time ever, will force every American to buy, with a big chunk of their income, a product designed by government bureaucrats, with an army of IRS agents snooping on each of us to make sure we did it.

And how are many liberals explaining why so many Americans are ticked off?

It's because our president is black. It's about racism.

Even me. I'm steamed. And even though I happen to be black – I've even spoken at some Tea Party rallies – I still must be a racist.

Obama's approval rating has dropped from 70 percent when he was elected to 50 percent today. His disapproval has skyrocketed from 10 percent when he was elected to 42 percent today.

Per the Washington Post, in January 2009 58 percent of Americans said that the Obama presidency helped race relations. By January 2010, this was down to 40 percent.

Has this wave of disillusionment with Obama been driven by a sudden realization that the man Americans elected president is black?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's approval has dropped from 41 percent in January 2009 to 36 percent today and her disapproval has risen from 42 percent to 54 percent. Is she black?

Were the raucous townhalls last summer – which gave birth to the Tea Party movement – where irate constituents gave their representatives a piece of their mind about ObamaCare, racially motivated?

Care to understand what all this is really about?

Consider a powerful observation about a former time by one of America's great historians, Jacques Barzun. Barzun was a professor and dean at Columbia University and a Presidential Medal of Freedom winner.

"We make a great mistake in calling the American War of Independence, the 'American Revolution,'" he wrote. "In 1776 the Americans rebelled against recent rules and impositions. What they wanted was not a new type of government, but the old type they enjoyed. They were used to many freedoms, which they claimed as the immemorial rights of Englishmen. Once they defeated the English armies and expelled the Loyalists, they went back to their former ways, which they modestly enlarged, and codified in the Bill of Rights."

In a similar fashion today, Americans are rebelling as the freedom we have enjoyed, freedom which defines life in this country, is being taken away and new "rules and impositions" are being imposed.

It's not about theory or some abstract ideology. The intense feelings flow from losing what you have and what you know is vital.

What is new today is we can no longer continue the illusion of having our cake and eating it. We can no longer afford to be both a big government entitlement state and a free, creative, and prosperous nation. It's the prosperity created by our freedom that has financed the entitlements. But now the entitlements are overtaking and strangling our freedom.

So now is a time of choosing. We're either going to remain the land of the free or transform into the land of the bureaucrat.

The antipathy of activists toward Mr. Obama is not about how he looks but what he has done. That he has chosen and imposed on us the path of bureaucracy.

"LOST" - Another Look At Past Episodes

After watching some past episodes, a few things jumped out at me that didn't really stand out so much at the time... but after last week's episode, they strike a whole new chord.

Season 3, Episode 8: Flashes Before Your Eyes

After Desmond blows the hatch and temporarily goes back in time...

Charles Widmore says to Desmond, when he asks for Penny's hand, "You will never be a great man."

Eloise Hawking was in the store showing Desmond the ring, but she wouldn't let him buy it. According to her, he wasn't supposed to, Desmond David Hume. Then she proceeded to tell him his life story leading to the island. She tells him, "Pushing that button is the only truly great thing you'll ever do."


Season 3, Episode 9: Stranger In A Strange Land

In Jack's flashback there's this Asian chick, and her gift is to see who people are and mark them. She tells Jack, "You are a leader, a great man."

Isabelle (an Other) tells him his mark (tattoos) read: He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us. Jack tells Isabelle, "That's what they say, it's not what they mean."

Easter BBQ

For some reason it was decided that we would have the family Easter dinner on Saturday instead of Sunday... okay, I'm flexible. That's why I was doing the lawn on Easter Sunday.

I only took a couple of pictures... I did get some video, but the software to convert it doesn't work on my new computer.  I've been saving the files to my computer until I can afford to buy something.

 

Mom's Visit

Mom came for a visit today... I believe this is the first visit when she has come without a reason, a "just stopping by" visit...  we had a nice lengthy visit.

Yesterday I spent the day mowing and weed-eating the yard.  It was soooo HOT!  I drank a whole pitcher of ice tea and a bottle of gatorade... without having to stop for a bathroom break... I sweated it all out.  I was so tired by the end of the day, I barely had enough energy to take my clothes off and get into the shower.  And, oh man... I was feeling it today!  I was gimpin' around all day.  It hurt to get up, it hurt to walk, and it hurt to sit down.  *LOL*

Saturday night Missy was on the deck chasing bugs... which she would bring in.  She brought a june bug in and then her and Simon chased it around the kitchen floor like an air hockey puck.

"LOST" - The Package

Mar. 30 Episode: The Package

Behind the "magical mystery" door on the sub was Desmond... whew! Good to see #108 wasn't Charles Widmore!

So, in the Alternate Timeline, Jin and Sun are not married... but, by the end of the show we find out she is pregnant. Very interesting.

When MIB/NotLocke approached Sun at the garden and reached out his hand to her, instead of accepting it and letting MIB/NotLocke take her to Jin, Sun ran. **Lesson learned: This is why we watch where we are running!** So, Sun is either:

1. a candidate and that's why MIB/NotLocke couldn't hurt or take her, he needed her to come willingly.
2. he just didn't want to scare her because he needs her to keep Jin in his camp.

Why didn't MIB/NotLocke pick her up and take her to Jin?

1. She's a candidate?
2. He can't touch her?

I'm wondering, and I'll have to go back to previous episodes to investigate, has MIB/NotLocke touched any of the candidates? He held his hand out to Kate... we didn't get to see if she took it. IS that why he told Claire that Kate is not a candidate, that her name had been crossed out? Because Kate did take his hand, thus joining his team? Like when vampires can't come in unless invited... if you take MIB/NotLocke's outstretched hand, you're considered recruited.

And what was Sun looking at in the mirror of her hotel room? It was just odd. Like she was noticing something different.

Jin seems very important to MIB/NotLocke. Is it because he is a candidate or he just needs Jin to get Sun? He says he doesn't know which one is the candidate, but I think he's lying.

I believe they are both candidates. When Jacob went to see them at their wedding, it looked like he may have touched them both... although you don't actually see his hand touching Sun, but her hair bounces as if something moved her arm. But he made mention of their love, "It is a very special thing. Never take it for granted.". I feel almost certain they are both candidates... together. One hinges on the other. Maybe the Beatles were right... All We really do Need Is Love!

When Jack reached out his hand to Sun... I felt right then... Jack must be the one! Sun accepted his hand, thus considered recruited into Jacob's camp.

I really hate seeing Locke as the bad guy... I know it's not technically Locke, but still!

I do feel better about Ben's change/redemption... he told on MIB *snicker* to Ilana and Jack, about where to find him... on Hydra Island.

The Real Reason for Easter - Revelation Song