Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Wednesday's Words - Paraprosdokian

Though some doubt the truth of his legend, it is said that he was even willing to take arms against the mighty Heracles.



Paraprosdokian sentences Some new,some old.
Paraprosdokian – a figure of speech where the ending of the phrase is completely unexpected


"A paraprosdokian (from Greek "παρα-", meaning "beyond" and "προσδοκία", meaning "expectation") is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part."-Wikipedia

“She looked as if she had been poured into her clothes and forgot to say when.” (P.G. Wodehouse)


“It was a book to kill time for those who like it better dead.” (Rose Macaulay)

“To commit suicide in Buffalo would be redundant.” (Harold Arlen)

“I belong to no organized party. I am a Democrat.” (Will Rogers)

“One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing.” (Oscar Wilde)







Ø I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn't work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.



Ø Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.



Ø I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.



Ø Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.



Ø The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.



Ø Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.



Ø If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong.



Ø We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.



Ø War does not determine who is right - only who is left.



Ø Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.



Ø The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.



Ø Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening', and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.



Ø To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.



Ø A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.



Ø How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?



Ø Some people are like Slinkies ... not really good for anything, but you can't help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.



Ø Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish.



Ø I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted pay checks.



Ø A bank is a place that will lend you money, if you can prove that you don't need it.



Ø Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says "If an emergency, notify:" I put "DOCTOR".



Ø I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.



Ø I saw a woman wearing a sweat shirt with "Guess" on it...so I said "Implants?"



Ø Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?



Ø Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.



Ø Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America ?



Ø Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.



Ø A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.



Ø You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.



Ø The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!



Ø Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.



Ø A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the trip.



Ø Hospitality: making your guests feel like they're at home, even if you wish they were.



Ø Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.



Ø I discovered I scream the same way whether I'm about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot.



Ø Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others whenever they go.



Ø There's a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so they can't get away.



Ø I used to be indecisive. Now I'm not sure.



Ø I always take life with a grain of salt, plus a slice of lemon,

and a shot of tequila.



Ø When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire

Department usually uses water.



Ø You're never too old to learn something stupid.



Ø To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.



Ø Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.



Ø Some people hear voices. Some see invisible people. Others have no imagination whatsoever.



Ø A bus is a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you are after it as when you are in it.



Ø If you are supposed to learn from your mistakes, why do some people have more than one child?



Ø Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine



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Sunday, September 26, 2010

Sunday Skies - Santa Fe New Mexico


Santa Fe is known for its large artists' colony. And it's no wonder as the light is magnificent. at 7000 feet above sea level it is the highest state capital. I took so many photos as we ambled along stepping in and out of galleries looking for just the right (small) piece to take home.

Santa Fe is the second largest art market in the US, and has more art galleries than any other city of its size. Santa Fe galleries offer a wide range including Native American art, early 20th century art by members of New Mexico's famous art colonies, traditional representational art, and contemporary and abstract art.


Saturday, September 25, 2010

Saturday Shoes

Taken outside Kensington Palace (where Diana had lived) in London.

New Recipes to Try

Greek style potatoes with oregano and lemon from a Toronto blogger.

Garlic Herbed Bread Sticks

Halloumi herb cheese rolls from Not So Humble Pie, hers look so pretty!

From the same blogger  Gobi Manchurian - this is like a vegetarian hot wing. Florets of cauliflower, poached, battered and then fried. Tossed in a fiery sauce.


Chocolate zucchini cake from Heidi's Recipes - one way to get more veggies.



Mini pork pies with bacon jam who wouldn't be intrigued by bacon jam from this Irish blogger?



Wow! a mini cupcake made in the microwave from The Pink Peppercorn!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Wednesday's Words

I took this a few years ago and just came across it while looking for something else.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Sunday Skies - Death Valley CA




Since we've been to Palm Springs CA so many times, we usually add on a short trip to somewhere close by. This time it was Death Valley with an overnight stay so that John could golf at Furnace Creek Golf Course.
This National Park is gigantic so it deserves at least an overnight stay to experience it at different times of the day.



Then the next thing we know we are in snow!



I have highlighted on this map where we drove in the Park.




The following is copied from Wikipedia.
Death Valley is a desert located in the southwestern United States of America. Situated within the Mojave Desert, it features the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America.[1] Badwater, a basin located within Death Valley, is the specific location (36° 14.5' N 116° 49.5' W) of the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet (86.0 m) below sea level. This point is only 76 miles (122 km) east of Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m). Death Valley holds the record for the highest reliably reported temperature in the Western hemisphere, 134 °F (56.7 °C) at Furnace Creek on July 10, 1913—just short of the world record, 136 °F (57.8 °C) in Al 'Aziziyah, Libya, on September 13, 1922.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Saturday Shoes - Toronto

Taken in the spring at John and King St. I wonder why they were left there like that?

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Toronto Thursday - TIFF

The Toronto International Film Festival is in full stream this week. One thing I certainly noticed as I left the Hyatt and walked in front of the Festival Tower is the amount of cigarette butts! Not something you see a lot of in downtown Toronto, apparently these artsy types really like to smoke.
Here are some ordinary photos around TIFF.


Back of the TIFF Festival Tower which opened on the 12th.




Outside the Hyatt

In the Hyatt lobby





Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Recipes to Try - Burgers

I found this recipe over at Cinnamon spice and Everything Nice where she rated it 4/4!


Thirsty Tuesday - Sedona

Standing tall at the west end of Sedona sits Coffee Pot Rock, perfectly poised to pour the first cup of morning refreshment for the countless neighbors, us included, living in the shadow of this unique and colourful monument.
Our condo was just below (across the road) from the Coffee Pot. Visible from all over town, Coffee Pot Rock looks like a percolator style pot, complete with spout. The base of Coffee Pot Rock is deep Sedona red, with slight striations of white and pink. The lid of the Coffee Pot is striped beige and orange, further resembling the clear top of the percolator.

And yes, that is snow behind us in the smaller photo. At 5,600 ft Coffee Pot Rock is considereed the highest point in town. At that height it is not surprising to get snow in November.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Books - The Prayer Room

I read the review of The Prayer Room here and all I can say is I don't get it.
I did not really enjoy it at all. I found the characters boring and one dimensional. None of them evoked any sympathy from me.
The following write-up from over at Amazon.com sums up my feelings without me wasting the time.
From Publishers Weekly
In her debut novel, Sekaran indulges in beautiful prose that unfortunately obscures a ponderous narrative. Art history scholar and Englishman George Armitage went to India for the research, but returned with an Indian wife, Viji, so out of sorts she can't even recognize her husband when they get separated at the airport (They all looked like George. Which one had she married?). In short order, they move to Sacramento and Viji gives birth to triplets. As their children wade into adolescence, George blandly flirts with infidelity, and Viji is afflicted with poorly explained midlife ennui. The plot, as it is, involves the arrival of George's widowed father and Viji's solo visit to India at the request of her sister. Lovely writing doesn't make up for Sekaran's vacant characterization; as the characters' problems are never clearly established, readers won't find much satisfaction in the old family secrets and healed wounds meant to resolve them. (Feb.)
 
 
 
 I read this book this week and finished it yesterday sitting on my front porch. I took this picture while sitting there trying to get through the book and finish it.

Next on the reading list is The Privileges by Jonathan Dee.

Autumn Menu Ideas

London near Buckingham Palace October 2009

Megan over at Meganscookin has the perfect Fall menu on her post last fall. Do drop over and check it out.

Sunday Skies - Toronto

I didn't take this, DH did last Saturday as he headed out early to play golf. It was taken as he drove with his blackberry so it isn't the best quality but the light was amazing.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Wednesday's Words - Apostrophes

This is priceless, as you know how much it drives me crazy when apostrophes are used incorrectly. Enjoy The Apostrophe Song!!!

Head over  to for more Apostrophe Catastrophes.

Cartoon courtesy of http://www.angryflower.com/

Books - Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet


Set during one of the most difficult times during World War II,in the United States, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a heart rending story of commitment and enduring hope.
In Henry and Keiko, Jamie Ford has created an unforgettable duo whose story teaches us of the power of the human heart.
In the opening page of Jamie Ford’s stunning debut novel, Henry Lee an American Chinese widower, comes upon a crowd gathered outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle’s Japantown. It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II.
As Henry looks on, the owner opens a Japanese parasol which he is sure belonged to his first true love, an American Japanese girl called Keiko.



The hotel referred to is the Panama Hotel in Seattle which still stands. I wish I had been aware of this hotel and its historical significance when I visited Seattle. It is open and many of the belongings are on display.
The Panama was once the gateway to Seattle’s Japantown. It had been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made an incredible discovery: the belongings of Japanese families, left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps



This simple act takes Henry Lee back to the 1940s, at the height of the war, when young Henry’s world is a jumble of confusion and excitement, and to his father, who is obsessed with the war in China and having Henry grow up American. To ensure his son is not mistaken as Japanese he makes Henry wear a button stating "I am Chinese".  Henry's father "hates" the Japanese and is livid that his son has befriended Keiko.

The novel flips back and forth from the war years to 1986.  We go to school with Henry where he is bullied as the only non-white child on a scholarship until Keiko enrols. As part of their scholarship they work together in the cafeteria at lunch and then clean the classrooms after school.

We learn what the camps were like as Henry goes to visit Keiko and her family.



Father-son relationships are a crucial part of the novel. Henry also struggles with his relationship with his own son Marty who becomes engaged to a Caucasian girl, Samantha.
 
Central to the theme is Henry's friendship with an older Black jazz musician named Sheldon. Their love of jazz binds them to a lifetime friendship.
 
The US has been called a nation of immigrants yet the paranoia in this historical period is mind blogging.
The author does not attempt to address whether the US government was right or wrong to "relocate" Japanese-Americans and other citizens and residents who had emigrated from countries the US was fighting in WWII.
As we turn the pages we hope that the story will come full circle and end on a sweet note.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Monday, September 6, 2010

Books - The Groom To Have Been


I just finished this book, and I was disappointed.
The novel attempts to discuss the feelings of a second generation immigrant, the ability to integrate, the first generation's nostalgia for ‘home’ and then mixed into the plot are the complex reactions of a Muslim Indian community to 9-11.

It asks what is love and how do we decide who to spend the rest of our lives with. It blends new traditions with an older generation's ideas.

It is Saher Alam’s first novel. Coming from the same place as the older generation characters she is sharing her own thoughts and culture with us as we follow the main character a story of love, friendship, family and tradition.

I enjoyed the different customs, the wedding plans and ceremonies. Traditions always interest me and the way the younger generation found ways to blend the old and new into their lifestyle.

But the main protaganist, Nasr never felt like a real person, he is a stiff and slightly annoying character, someone that got on my nerves as I wished he would develop a backbone. You never really get a sense of a genuine personality, or even warmth and substance – this character comes across as  predictable and stereotyped.

Even though he did search for 3 years to find someone he felt he could marry while he continued his westernized lifestyle in New York, I felt he was just procrastinating.
His decision to agree to an arranged marriage doesn’t strike me as him believing in the old-fashioned custom, but rather the need not to make any decisions for himself.
In a love marriage, the desire to commit to someone for life comes after falling in love. In an arranged marriage, the opposite is true: with the commitment of marriage comes love.

From the start the reader can see that his true soul mate is Jameela, right there under his nose and he waits until it is too late! How I wished he'd wake up and realize it and they would run off together!

Monday's Child - Santa Fe

Canyon Road, Santa Fe

Recipes - Chocolate Cheesecake with Sour Cream Icing

I was reading some blogs yesterday and came across this recipes for Chocolate Cheesecake. I quickly checked that I had all the ingredients on hand (everything is closed as it is Labour Day).

I keep my cocoa in the Bailey's jar.

I hopped up and began making it. Using my handy iPad to follow the recipe which is now all set up on the island and even has 233 songs so far loaded on it as of yesterday!


As the site states this is the easiest cheesecake ever to make. I would suggest using a slightly larger pie plate as this ended up being almost filled to overflowing, plus the crust could have been spread a little thinner.
I also never quite use all the sugar they recommend.

Ready for the oven.



Out of the oven and iced - now to set in the fridge



Oh my! Can you spell delicious??? Even before we started dinner DH said can we just skip to dessert?/

Projects to Try

Tote bags

Entry Way Stand I think this is fantastic - wish I'd kept some of my old Ikea bookcases. I think I would cover it with photos from our travels.

Day beds

Laundry Room Sign

http://www.tipjunkie.com/broken-jewelry-letter-craft/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TipJunkie+%28Tip+Junkie+-+Creative+Inspiration%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-make-gift-bags-from-newspaper.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSfusvAP1vw

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Sunday Skies - New Orleans

St. Louis Cemetery - located on the boundary of the French Quarter
Tombs in the cemeteries of New Orleans above ground and are often referred to as "cities of the dead." As you enter the gates you will be greeted by decorative, rusty ironwork, and blinded by the sun bleached tombs. Crosses and statues on tomb tops cast contrasting shadows adding a sense of mystery.


Burial plots are shallow in New Orleans because the water table is high. Dig a few feet down, and the grave becomes soggy, filling with water. The casket will literally float.

Eventually, New Orleans' graves were kept above ground following the Spanish custom of using vaults. This custom is also used in Portugal where I took this picture.