Mary's Ramble

I would ABSOLUTELY watch this show

2012-01-25T12:00:00.000-06:00

DORK TOWER, Tuesday, January 24, 2012
(Click through to see the full-size cartoon)

True, I'm waaaay behind on Dr. Who and I haven't even started Sherlock yet (I hear it's great and I intend to start on season one soon)...but a show like this would be just mind-blowingly awesome (England, will you still let me in?)

Flickr Favorite: Paris

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000-06:00

Just like birds on a wire, I'm a sucker for pictures of the Eiffel Tower against a sunset. This one is by Flickr user [phil h].

No need to panic, the mystery's been solved:

2012-01-24T21:58:00.001-06:00

see more Set Phasers To Lol

Some days the dragon wins

2012-01-24T12:00:00.000-06:00

When I read this post last night just before bed, I immediately emailed myself the link with the note "OMG YES!"

The whole thing is short and worth reading in its entirety for the full message, but this is the part that really hit me:

"Your manuscript was not written. Your miles were not run. Your dream was not dreamed. But, and this is an awful big but, that was just today. Tomorrow is a new day."

I have a tendency to fall into the trap of "I didn't achieve my goal today, so I'm never going to." I'm slowly learning to climb out of that hole and keep moving forward, brushing off the dirt of self-doubt and negative self-talk that clings to me afterward.

The dragon definitely won most of the last week. And I think the last couple days, I barely stood up to fight it. I'm back to fighting today, sword and shield in hand, partially thanks to this post.

photo via Library of Congress

I think I'm going to create a prominent "Having a bad day?" bookmark on my computer which links to that post so I can read it whenever I need to.

There Be Dragons by Jon Acuff

Does the movie of your life need a new writer?

2012-01-23T18:00:00.000-06:00

Photo By Hal Dick

An interesting read:

"If they made a movie about your life, would it be titled, It’s a Wonderful Life? Or would Speed, You've Got Mail, or Nightmare on Elm Street be more fitting? Unfortunately, too many people are living lives like those movies that come out every summer. You know, the overhyped ones with big budgets, lots of action — and tired stories with thin plots. Just because a movie costs a lot of money and has a lot of things going on doesn’t mean it’s a very good story. The same is true of your life...If you’re less than thrilled with the direction of your story, it is time to hire a new writer: YOU."

Check out the whole post here: How To Live A Better Story | Jungle of Life

Making yourself miserable?

2012-01-20T09:00:00.000-06:00

Here's an interesting list by Keri Smith. I've seen it floating around a bit lately and find it eye-opening every time I come across it. I do several things on this list on a regular basis. I won't say which I do, but I know all creative people probably do at least a couple at any given time - we're all human. We all fall into these traps. But being aware of them helps us climb out of the holes we dig for ourselves and hopefully avoid falling back into them in the future.

via Rachelle Gardner

The chair of my dreams

2012-01-19T09:00:00.001-06:00

I don't pay much attention to the TV show Revenge, which is probably why I never noticed this chair until last night (according to my husband, it shows up quite often), but now that I've seen it...WANT!!!

So, now I just need to come up with $1,859 so I can buy it....um, yeah....

Revenge Home Décor: Where to Find Victoria Grayson’s French Script Armchair - Revenge

Come to the bark side...we have biscuits.

2012-01-18T21:54:00.002-06:00

After last year's Super Bowl commercial, Volkswagen apparently thought they'd keep going with the Star Wars theme. I'm not complaining.

(Best commercial that had nothing to do with the product ever)

The peril of naming characters [Cartoon]

2012-01-18T09:00:00.000-06:00

Pearls Before Swine Comic Strip, October 02, 2011

I've definitely had that problem before...maybe not quite so bad as "Bean Dip"....

I do tend to end up with a lot of people with the name Something or Somethingelse.

How about you?

Lady Grantham's Greatest Hits + White Feathers

2012-01-09T18:00:00.000-06:00

A friend posted this on Facebook earlier today. If you like Downton Abbey, you'll get a kick out of this. I just love the Dowager Countess of Grantham, and I don't think anyone but Maggie Smith could have played her.

I watched the first episode of Season Two last night and loved it! If you'd like to read more about the symbolism of the white feathers involved in one scene, check out this post at Jane Austen's World. I was kind of glad I'd read it ahead of time.

This made me giggle...

2012-01-09T13:00:00.000-06:00

Potential:

via XKCD

2012 - Week 1

2012-01-09T11:40:00.001-06:00

I'm trying to check in and keep track of what I did over the last week, so I have something to look at when I start to beat myself up for not being Superwoman. So many times I get to the end of Sunday and I feel like I didn't accomplish anything through the week, when really I did. So, these are the things I DID ACCOMPLISH last week, to counter the hundreds of things the unhealthy voices keep telling me I didn't do:

Did at least 30 minutes on the Wii Fit every day, including Saturday and Sunday (bonus points there - I usually slack off on the weekend). I did 1 hour one day, but I hurt A LOT afterward, so that's definitely something I need to work up to as I go.
I did all my scheduled breaks for stairs at work (I noticed they were a bit easier this morning - I think doing the Wii over the weekend helped with that).
I went to church - I think I've figured out my key to getting there regularly: I prefer to go on Saturday evening and if I tell hubby on Saturday morning that I am going, it not only solidifies it in my head that I'm going, he'll give me a nudge out the door as well (even though he rarely goes along). Really, for me, the hardest part about getting to church is getting out the door; the rest is gravy.
I finished reading one book: The Book of Ancient Bastards: 101 of the Worst Miscreants and Misdeeds from Ancient Sumer to the Enlightenment.
LilGirl and I caught up on the dishes (you'd be shocked at how often this doesn't happen).
I saw a movie and didn't get a soda (it helps that this theater had self-serve fountain drinks, which include water, so you're not paying $6 for a small bottle - definitely a reason to continue going there).
No new pages written, but I did make a bunch of notes for my WIP.
Took a load of stuff to Goodwill (and threw away several things not worth taking there).

I used to do this...

2012-01-06T14:33:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately, "Staring out the window" seems to have been replaced by a circle marked "Staring at a screen" and the intersection does not often result in inspiration. I need to remember to start staring out the window (or just into space) again.

From Indexed

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T09:53:00.000-06:00

"It is reasonable that a man should be something worthier

at the end of the year than he was at the beginning."

— Henry David Thoreau

May we all be successful as we strive towards "worthiness" this year,

though that means something different for each of us.
Have a happy & prosperous 2012!

Fairy Tales and Dragons

2011-12-25T22:37:00.000-06:00

I hadn't thought about this quote in a long time, but it's one of my favorites. I came across the quote again the other day on a Tumblr blog:

Not a dragon, but the closest thing I have in my Flickr account :)

“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” - G. K. Chesterton

via mbthecool

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T10:30:00.000-06:00

We're having a nice quiet Christmas at home today.

I hope your holiday is special and blessed.

Missing a white Christmas this year? Google has a little present for you.

Go to google.com, type in let it snow and wait a little...

Christmas Countdown: Am I a hundred years too late for this toy?

2011-12-23T12:33:00.000-06:00

I was looking at some photos in the Library of Congress' Flickr photostream and noticed the Eiffel Tower in this window full of toys. Was this a model for a child to build, do you suppose? Some quick Googling didn't come up with anything, but I may take some time to search deeper later. Whatever it was, I think I would have wanted one!

Hobbit Countdown: 360-ish days and counting...

2011-12-21T15:00:00.000-06:00

I've been waiting patiently for the first installment of The Hobbit to come out. Of course, the realization of the movie mostly seemed like vague reports and imagination to me, and I could handle that. And for some reason, I thought it was coming out this summer. No problem. I could wait perfectly well for that.

Then hubby sent me this trailer this morning, which both took away any patience I had and informed me that I have to wait until NEXT DECEMBER 14th to see it!

On the bright side, this gives me plenty of time to re-read the book, which I haven't read since high school.

And this just showed up in my RSS feed: Waiting for Bilbo: Comic: The Hobbit Trailer (just so you know, I wasn't one of those people. Really. I'm serious. Why don't you believe me?)

Christmas Countdown: If you don't have it, fake it...

2011-12-21T12:00:00.000-06:00

No fireplace?

Fake tree?

No Christmas CD's?

No problem!

A pine-scented candle, over on the left

(I'm always on the hunt for the most realistic Christmas tree scent since we can't have a real tree),

Pandora Radio on the computer,

a Fireplace video streaming through Netflix on the TV

(we do have a fireplace, but it's gas, so it doesn't have the nice pop & crackle of wood like the video),

A nice holiday mood while I worked in my home office the other day.

Update 12/22/11: A Facebook friend posted a link to this fireplace video on YouTube, so you don't even have to have Netflix - although the YouTube video is shorter, so you have to press play more often ;)

Christmas Countdown: Packages, Packages, Everywhere!

2011-12-19T12:00:00.000-06:00

The postal service says today is the biggest delivery day of the year, while tomorrow is the biggest mailing day of the year. I found this picture from World War II in The Smithsonian Institution's photostream on Flickr. Click through to see some humorous notes users have applied to parts of the photo (just mouse over the photo once you've clicked through). Unfortunately, more keep being added, so I think some of the funnier ones are getting buried - kind of like some of the boxes in the photo. :)

Click through!

Happy Birthday, Jane Austen!

2011-12-16T12:43:00.000-06:00

I visited Jane Austen's house in Chawton in 1996. The pictures I took there have turned out to be some of the most-viewed in my Flickr stream despite being faded-looking scans. In honor of Jane's birthday, I thought I'd share a slideshow of those photos. Enjoy!

Here's a video of the house (including some improvements done a couple years ago). It all makes me want to go back again.

Christmas Countdown: Winter Wonderland [Photos]

2011-12-12T10:30:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning everything was covered with frost, so I ventured out to take a few photos.

Berries on the burning bush. View on black.

I love how wooden fences seem to grow whiskers in the frost. View on black.

I played around with this one in Picnik and added their fake HDR effect, which turned out really interesting, I thought. View on black

Christmas Countdown: O Dragon Tree, O Dragon Tree...

2011-12-08T16:00:00.000-06:00

My coworker Steve makes Study Dragons for students each year about this time.
It appears a few of the dragons took over the Christmas tree.

I really like this one :)

Christmas Countdown: Yum!

2011-12-03T19:06:00.001-06:00

I baked!

This doesn't happen often (though it's not as rare as me cooking dinner), but I found a recipe for Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread earlier this week and thought it looked like something I could tackle. Then today was one of those perfect snowy, lazy days when I didn't have to go anywhere and the house wasn't a complete disaster, so I was in the mood to bake. The result was yummy, even if I did eat enough of it to get a tummy ache.

And thankfully, it didn't turn out like Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake (sung here by Mick Moloney, whom I once had the pleasure of meeting in person).

Christmas Countdown: LEGO Christmas Tree

2011-12-02T13:00:00.000-06:00

St. Pancras railway station in London features a Lego Christmas tree this year. According to the St. Pancras website, the tree is made from 600,000 Lego bricks.

These pictures are by Andrew Smith (McTumshie on Flickr)

What work must have gone into this tree!

By McTumshie

via In Pictures: The St Pancras LEGO Christmas Tree | Londonist