Mansions In My Mind

Want to fantasize with me for a moment this winter? Being raised in New England, I am particularly partial to the many mansions that are along the northeast coast. Driving on Route 1 from Boston through Maine, these mansions are places of history and are rare beauties. Although I do believe it was filmed at Long Island, Something's Gotta Give,  a 2003 American romantic comedy film starring Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, featured a mansion that is classic New England style with a delightful and sunny New England kitchen. Certainly, these are not the typical small Cape Cod homes; they are homes of majesty, once owned by corporate monopolists from the golden era.

I found a website with dream homes along the New Hampshire coast. This would be the ideal setting if one were to hit the lottery and have no regard for money. Looking at these homes brings a sense of grandeur and grace and peace and history. Enjoy.

http://www.mbgre.com/nh-homes-over-500k/

Elburn's Safe Haven For Animals

http://www.foxvalleywildlife.org/

Thanks for the invitation from Alexia and Dave, we'll be heading for a second year in a row to the annual Fox Valley Wildlife Rescue benefit at the Geneva Dam in February.  Last year, I came home with an armful of stuff to furnish the condo.  This year, it'll be about giving back to save the deer, small animals, and yes, even the fox. 

No, not Redd Foxx.  Too late to save him (or Rodney either, for that matter).  But the cute foxes and turtles and other maimed animals--I think the wildlife refuge takes all comers--is a great cause and should be a fun evening with our friends.

You're My False Idol

At a Megadeth concert last year, a fan kept yelling to lead singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine: "You're my false idol!" What in the bejeesus does that mean. Is that a compliment, or a rip?

This glass Buddah sits in my livingroom. It represents a peaceful state of mind, and nothing else. It is a real idol...not a false idol. Lamb of God has an intense tune, Fake Messiah, on their Wrath album from 2009. Maybe false idols and fake messiahs are all the rage. I'll just stick with my glass Buddah.

Microsoft Security Essentials Is Essential

For those that do not know, Microsoft's paid security software, Live OneCare, went bye bye in early 2010 to make way for the free Security Essentials (you must delete the Onecare software from your computer to put on the new software).  Absolutely free, it trumps Norton Antivirus and McAfee in several ways: it's free on XP, Vista, and Win7.  It is updated twice daily.  It is non-intrusive.  It covers all forms of malware and viruses. Did I say, it's free?  Oh, yes.

Take a look at it--just Google Microsoft Security Essentials and find the microsoft website and downloads in about three minutes.  Who better to keep spyware off your PC than Mr. Gates himself.

Hello

The Brady Bunch: Cultural Icons With Sayings As Memorable as Mark Twain's

Mushrooms on Railroad Tracks September 2009

Tiny life is everywhere if we take a moment to look around us.  I spotted these mushrooms on decaying railroad tracks during a walk in September.  The image is now something I look at in the winter.

www.kayakeclectic.blogspot.com

http://kayakeclectic.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to my friend and fellow kayaker, Scott, from my native Massachusetts on his new blogspot.  He's a right up guy, and anyone who's into Valley Sea Kayaks the way I am is, by default, on my "future expedition paddle" list.  Within 2010 he'll post some sweet--and I mean sugary sweet--photos of that brand new Nordkapp Classic with ocean cockpit when it arrives from Nottingham, U.K.  The birth of a new Nordkapp--and a new blog.

The Boys Are Upstairs Watching Spooky Movies While I Ponder Life

Reminder: Winter Mistakes Can Be Fatal

Winter skater dies unnecessarily from a tactical error in her outdoor training, 2009. 

Portillo's Chopped Salad Rules!

Ingredients:
.1 servings Dressing, Creamy Caeser House
1 servings scallions
3 servings Grilled Chicken Oz
.5 servings Raw Red Cabbage
.1 servings Pasta, Ditalini, Cooked
.25 servings Bacon
5 servings Tomato
2 servings Iceberg Lettuce
Amount per Serving

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Calories 393 Calories from Fat 59


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 7g 11%
Saturated Fat 0.75g 4%
Monounsaturated Fat 0.6g
Cholesterol 55.06mg 18%
Sodium 737.9mg 31%
Potassium 235mg 7%
Total Carbohydrate 30.41g 10%
Dietary Fiber 4.35g 17%
Sugars 3.15g
Protein 27.15g 54%

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Instructions:
Go to Portillo's. Order the Chopped Salad. Dressing on the side. Pretty easy right ? Healthy dose of protein, low cal (if kep dressing off--plenty of taste without it) and easy to eat. It's chopped. Enjoy.

The Sun Across My Kitchen Sink

As days grow slowly longer like the beard on an old sleeping man, sunshine splashes across the kitchen through a large window. Blinds open to capture rays of warmth on a single-digit temperature winter day. The light beams on the backsplash. It feels good on my face.

Water Can Flow. Or It Can Crash -- Bruce Lee

Today...

..it crashed. Not my car. Just my life. Like a crumpled VW fender from the car show.

But you know what, hovering above it all like a stratus cloud on a July day, life is great. I have people around me that I can count on. I can count the people I can count on with one hand--hell, with a couple of fingers--but count on them I can.

Yeah, life's rich. I'll keep telling myself that as I suck down codeine pills with a diet green tea while reading a Travis Thrasher novel. And then the back of my eyelids.

The North View From Chicago's J. Hancock Building

Photo by Dan Heller www.danheller.com

Ever Have One Of Those Day?

My Live Forever Arsenal

These are the over-the-counter vitamins that I purchased so that I'd live forever. These are the ones advocated by Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN and Dr. Oz on Oprah.

Well, apparently Gupta and Oz don't have podagra, a.k.a gout.

Which of the above bottles, seen on my kitchen counter where I downed them faithfully, does not belong on the shelf of a gout sufferer? Answer: Aspirin and Niacin.

Now I have advice from a "real doctor", my pal E.C. from Dallas, and following his advice, I have downed water like a camel today, and have my aching dog in ice water now as I type this update. I'm improving here on gout day #10. Limping, but improving.

Wonder Boys After Lunch

Ran errands in the morning, and met friends for early dinner at the new Geneva Ale House, located in the Geneva Theatre/Fargo Building. The veggie burger and salad was exceptional.

Went to Michael and Vic's and finally got around to seeing Michael Douglas, Tobi McGuire, Robert Downet, Frances McDormand, Rip Torn in Wonder Boys. Excellent movie adaptation of Michael Chabon's novel. Highly recommended.

Double Feature

Spent a 15 degree but sunny day with Cathy and Linda. After eating some salad and Devil's Toothpicks at Rock Bottom Brewery, we hit the Warrenville Cantina 30—an excellent theater with seats that are super banked so that even a tall jughead can't block your view—for Precious and The Blind Side.

Precious, executive producers Oprah Winfrey and Tyler “Madea Goes To Jail” Perry, is a bleak story of a 16 year old inner city girl who is abused in every means possible, pops out a couple of love pups, and then learns to read. Her hateful mother, played by Mo'nique (whoever that is) is extraordinarily well acted. The lead character, Precious, has few lines given the length of the movie. Critics are hailing it as very good if not exceptional, suggesting that the non-”Rocky Balboa” ending is refreshing. She manages to learn to read, and even though she's still homeless, has a Down's Syndrome kid named "Mongie", short for Mongoloid (I kid you not) and now has HIV, we're supposed to see this as progress.

Two thumbs down on Precious. We walked out of there feeling like we'd be socked in the gut with a two by four. A dose of reality? Perhaps. Something I want to see on a sunny Friday afternoon with a gouty foot and a fresh Coke and popcorn? No.


Next up, with a mutual desire from Cath and Linda to not leave the theater feeling like toads, we popped into The Blind Side (yes, and endured the painful previews and advertisements yet again). A very motivating movie, takes homeless Michael, puts him with a wealthy family (Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw--who should not only keep the cowboy hat and the goatee, but also his day job as a country warbler). This film, that gets a Yahoo Review C+ from critics but a solid A from thousands of Yahoo viewers, is a winner. There are better movies, but not on Friday, Jan 1 in Warrenville, IL. Uplifting, funny, sweet but not syrupy, it just felt good. After Precious, it felt like hitting the hot tub after an ocean swim. Ahhhh!

I'm the first to hail the critics, and for the most part, they know a good movie when they see one. But many critically lauded movies are not fun or interesting (e.g. Monster's Ball, Lost In Translation, Up In The Air), and you know what, getting that rare “A” from patrons on Yahoo, Flixster, Fandango—they know a rousing movie when they see one, too.

Thanks, Yahoo users, for saving my life today. And as usual, adored my time with Cathy and Linda.

A Burst of Color On A 10 Degree Day

The rose cart at Fresh Market, Geneva Commons.

And I'm Fondue You, Too!

After a lunch at ChicksNSalsa and popping into Archivers and a Replay CD store, we managed to have a spellbinding New Year's meal at Michael and Victoria's candlelit home with a smorgasbord fondue. Cheese, bread and vegetables, then cooking chicken, steak and shrimp in healthy broth, hours of conversation, jazz and drinks. This fondue thing is addictive. Now I'm off the hook for taking Cath to The Melting Pot fondue restaurant (Naperville and Schaumburg), at least for this week. Home before the ball dropped, appreciate that our friends bought all that gourmet food that very afternoon after flying in from Sarasota that morning. Salute!

I have no idea what this cartoon says, but it must have to do with stringy cheese.