The title is mainly misleading ... refers to some of the hazards of building. Anyway, these tunnels have a fascinating history ... including use during World War II and art-ish hangouts. The parts about maintenance and all the infastructure were interesting!

You can participate in this meme HERE. :-)

It's the last Monday of 2021 and I am looking forward to 2022's reading efforts. I want to concentrate much more on not only book blogging ... but music, movie reviews on various sites, cooking, current events and trying TONS of new things! :-) I even have the equipment and the beginning of plans for a podcast.

In 2022, you will find me participating more on:
Letterboxd
GoodReads (I listed 44 finished books in 2021.)

I pulled out one of my fave, though it could be in better condition, records this week.
(video is a clip ... but awesome clip)

And movies watched included:

Both mens' children were included and there was a much-appreciated cameo near the end.

STARTED:

-----Terry McMillan is the author who wrote "How Stella Got Her Groove Back."

AND THE AUDIOBOOKS:

WANT TO READ:

A CURRENT READ:

I am on page 107.

---

I read this but wasn't impressed. I suppose it because I have read others pretty much identical in scope. Given that ... I would rate the book as "adequate."

You can buy templates for papercut art.

-----Cookie Butter Pound Cake Bread Pudding

-----Homemade Hash Browns with Spinach and Carrot
-----Carrot, Parsnip, and Turnip Hash Browns
-----Zucchini and Potato Hash Browns

-----The search for a time capsule placed under the Robert E. Lee statue will resume tomorrow.

Me(to husband): You only wish you asked as many questions as me.
I bet you he doesn't. :-)

-----What is a Dun Horse? Traits, Colors and Facts At the beginning of L'Amour's book, a character is riding a long-legged zebra dun ... obviously a horse. I have learned that you can also ride a zebra dun mule.


-----And What About Britanny and Them Bretons? This gives some idea of what a "Breton Frenchman is" and what current opinions are about the history/definition/culture ... I browsed the comments.

I haven't watched this movie in some years ... long enough that the storyline was a guess for me. As far as westerns go, I find it a worthwhile watch.
Memorable moments:
A counting
Death scene that mentions tamales.
The frank ride to THE END (note I didn't spoil whether it was happy or not).

"The Humboldt"=The Humnoldt Trail. I'm just trying to figure out what the locations would be modern day ... I like knowing stuff like that. :-)

Based on the Louis L'Amour novel of the same name.
L'Amour was a prolific writer ... 105 works.

Soon I will start reading the earliest L'Amour's novel ... Westward the Tide. It is available for FREE borrow on OpenLibrary. The publication on there is the 70s ... but this book came out, in Great Britain, in the 50s.

Matt Bardoul was a good man to have as a friend and a bad one to make trouble with. He was also a single-minded drifter--until he met his match in an outspoken beauty named Jacquine Coyle. She was headed into the Bighorn Mountains with her father and an expedition in search of gold. After Matt signs on to join them, he discovers that there is a group of outlaws in the party--gunfighters and thieves that Matt wouldn't trust for a minute. At first it's unclear what they are planning, but before long Matt realizes that he's the only man standing between innocent people and a brutal conspiracy of greed, lust, and cold-blooded murder.

-----Films scored by Hans J. Salter

101 Things About Me
1. I should think we eat rather more brisket than the average family.
2. I would like to own an older dark gray or black Armani women's pant suit ... or both. It/they would be worn often!
3. I need to restart my Medusa collection.
4. I think that the Canada side of Niagara Falls is beautiful....much more beautiful than the American side.
5. I like to keep a travel log. All the discoveries (and the frustrations) go into whatever notebook I am keeping. This intensifies all enjoyment and makes me, eventually, laugh at frustrations. I do hate when it has to be done hurriedly (frustrating to look back through handwriting and not be able to see some of the painting titles I wanted to from museums). I take more photographs than anyone I know.
6. Thing I need to replace: Pinky and the Brain comic of "Brainlet." We are all about the Shakespeare here! I've been known to celebrate, or at least nod at, Shakespaeare's birthday(April 23rd).
7. I've never been able to bring myself to like The Onion.
8. My favorite color is mustard yellow. I am very particular about the shades.I don't wear anything that color unless it has a Fall-ish tone to it!
9. A moment when I admired Jeb Bush ... Antonin Scalia had passed away that day and the Republicans were debating. Bush seemed to be the only person on the stage who was truly taking the moment of silence to reflect (and even seemed to be praying).
10. I play a mean/insane game of Munchkin. Funny moment ....the GM prohibited me from giving Husband "gifts." I don't usually win.....but I add a lot of humor/death to the game.
11. Spring is my favorite season.
12. I am pretty bad at pool. Pretty bad.
13. I don't like keeping things in pants pockets at all ... yet I complain if there aren't any pants pockets when needed.
14. I like bootlegged jeans and I wish slight bell bottoms were always in fashion. I've been made fun of for wearing bell bottoms when they were back in fashion.
15. I love Big Brother Hard Root Beer from Aldi.
16. I've been various degrees of Vegetarian.
17. Vincent Price's laughter is awesome.
18. We only use cast iron for skillets. I've gotten so used to this and I'm momentarily surprised when people are surprised at this.
19. I don't like raw green pepper. I only like cooked if it has been long simmered. I will eat it when served just fine. I feel I should like it since so many loved ones have enjoyed it so much ... but alas, no.
20. Mr Brown Can Moo! Can You?" is my favorite Dr. Seuss story.
21. I want to (safely) see a bear in Smokey Mountains National Park.
22. One of my favorite sounds is calliope music ... circus, steamboat, certain recorded ice cream truck music. I like music boxes that sound like this.
23. I am learning to hula via tutorials.
24. I have a vintage Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii tapestry.
25. I touchtype really fast. I can type faster than Isaac Asimov could ... and more accurately, too.
26. I like to burn German Chocolate and gardenia-scented candles...at the same time. People like it, once they get used to it.
27. Pet peeve: "Family-style" restaurants that make their living off serving the cheapest, improperly thawed frozen vegetables they can find and "just add water" products.
28. I refer to anything martini-related as "The Art of Shaken, Not Stirred." I like homemade martini vinaigrette dressing!
29.

Thoughts from September 12, 2013 ...
I once wanted part of the end of Blade Runner to be read at my funeral. Glad I noticed that might not be very reassuring...before my funeral.
"I've...seen...things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire, off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those...moments will be lost... in time...like, tears in rain. Time to die."

Christmas Eve Day. Piles of soft pretzels with cheese sauce at breakfast ... that was cool. We watched part of Venom: Let There Be Carnage. I started a folder for old nature/environment handouts I want to keep. I love the radio and have been making a point to get back to daily listening!


(#SoundtrackOfMyDay) Vinyl, on 45, that I will replace at some point. 🙂

2022-ish Goals

1. Finish the annex to my office ... a large amount of book storage, an armchair and a comfy cot behind a moveable wall.I love library annexes and delight in visiting those with "open-stack" rooms and (old)book sales.
2. Read the non-fiction works of John Irving and watch the five movies.

Above is the first one, a reread. A student and a mechanic tour Austria by motorcycle ... somewhere in the course of the story the two men want to attempt freeing all the animals from the Vienna Zoo.
I want to locate the places visited ... a guidebook I have, Wikivoyage, Youtube vlogs, Google Earth. Armchair travel and using the globe we gave my mother.
Yes, I said this list was 2022-ish. I've already started this one and am on page 44 now. Animals that I need to learn about include the arboral rat, the flying phalanger, grayling(fish that are eaten) and the Spectacled Bear(vunerable bear species; Andean; awesome faces).
3. Get COVID-19 booster.
4. Make journal entries the whole year. Personal, social media, family updates. I like to do photo journals!
5. Work on a comedy routine ... because I would like to do open-mic standup after the pandemic is over.
6. I have a project where I am writing a piece for each of this master list of logical fallacies ... that will take more than the year 2022.
7. Submit a lifestyle piece to BuzzFeed. Submit a personal or critical essay to Buzzfeed READER. (I used to do a variety of paid writing and would like to get back into that.)
8. Listen to each album in my record collection at least once.
I play Christmas music whenever I want here (it's me). So, I've already played a bit of Christmas stuff recently. Our Christmas album tradition will be in full swing after Halloween. I have 50-some of the Christmas records my parents played ... yes, there were more. Christmas was/is both my father and my FAVORITE holiday!

9. Add to our spiral rope chain Christmas garland by making my own (normally people make necklaces out of this).
10. Finish reading The Catcher in the Rye.
11.Be coordinated enough to flip two pans of sauteeing vegetables at the same time. It's a cooking thing ... you have your priorities, I have mine. :-)
I will have to get pans that aren't my usual HEAVY cast iron though. Yay ... new pans!
12. Put little decorative things among the lady ferns and get a pic of raindrops falling off. Maybe rain on the decorative things, too.

13. Find some sort of healthy-ish jello option.

-----Healthy Homemade McGriddles
" ... combine 4-ingredient protein pancake buns with folded eggs and your choice of healthier fixin’s like chicken breakfast sausage. It’s a simple recipe with a 25-minute prep time and just 5 ingredients, and it’s highly customizable."

-----A rare 'cotton candy' lobster named Haddie was caught in Maine
-----Glazed Corned Beef recipe
-----I saw a video yesterday that claimed, with the numbers rounded, there are no women citizens in Vatican City. There is a Wikipedia page on Women in Vatican City.

#SoundtrackOfMyDay

The Shrink Next Door

The first three episodes are up on Apple TV+ and I think new episodes go up on Fridays. According to the blurbs, Paul Rudd plays "Dr. Ike," a psychiatrist who takes over his patient's life. Will Ferell is an almost-40-year-old patient who it seems has ongoing anxiety and self-esteem issues. The series is based on real events.

First episode ... The Consultation.
It seems as if this might be the story of assertiveness training by a con artist? Hmmm. There is a part at the beginning which I am guessing is a flash to the future. The end is weird ... current day anger issues, sleepwalking, foretelling??

Second episode ... The Ceremony.
Milking money ... yep, this is a theme.
"Run to the light, Carol Anne." That's a line from Poltergeist.

vocab:
bema(bee-muh): the podium or platform in a synagogue from which the Torah and Prophets are read
aliyah[əˈlēə]: the honor of being called upon to read from the Torah.

Things you might find at a Korean Buffet:
-----Japchae/Chapchae (잡채) ... Korean Glass Noodle Stir-fry
-----"Kimchi breath"

Nice track choice. Like by me because he sounds a bit like Freddie Mercury here! The sensitive Billy Joel of the curls and cigarettes.

Third episode ... The Treatment
"Marty invites Dr. Ike to help out with the family business. Phyllis senses she is losing her brother and decides to take matters into her own hands."

This is reading with an extensive book scavenger hunt! You can sign up for the Fall Season HERE. :-)

I am new to understanding COYER ... but participating for whatever the Winter Season is, too. :-)

My first prompt:
A book with a red item on the cover. This is my personal copy. Somewhere in my shelves or storage, I should also have my mother's copy and the copy my mother gave me.
On page 15/495.

LDRathon Progress!!!

LDR(Long Distance Relationship) Readathon.
What a nice thing to salute during this pandemic! November 8th-November 14th.

This, for me, is three rereads, a continued tabbing and the Matt Ritter book. :-) I don't pretend I will get it all done in a week ... but I am at a point where fragments of reading are great and enjoyable things.

Progress:
Stranger in a Strange Land- page 71/438
Patton- page 101/978
Rainwalkers- page 51/249
Through the Darkness- page 23/478
Hitchhiker's Guide- page 105/815

From Patton:
"... the stables were maintained in the capable hands of the Ayer coachman, Henry, who said when he was hired that he did not particularly care about having a regular day off as long as he had permission to attend all public hangings."



Instagram tags: #ldrathon #bookstagram #tbr
Find me on GoodReads!



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Rainwalkers is a story set in the not-so-distant future in a crumbling version of John Steinbeck’s Salinas Valley, after the breakup of the United States. A once rich and prosperous agricultural land is now a war-torn nation-state known only as The Valley. To combat chronic droughts, scientists seeded clouds with genetically engineered bacteria that created regular rains but unintentionally made the rains lethal to humans. Anyone caught in the rain dies within seconds, yet there are rumors of people who survive… known as rainwalkers.
In a land of forced labor camps and waning oil fields, poverty-stricken agricultural communities support the metropolis of Salinas City and the authoritarian Valley Administration in their unending war against neighboring nations. In desperation, the Valley Administration intensifies their search for rainwalkers, who are believed to be powerful weapons in the border wars, by forcing children housed at Valley schools into the rain to be screened for resistance.
War hero Willie Taft lives a quiet agrarian life until the Administration abducts him and his wife, separating them from their daughter. Although his wife is killed during their escape, Willie continues his journey to rescue their daughter. He faces mortal challenges from the Administration military force, the sociopath bounty hunter on his trail, and the ever-present toxic rain. Time is running out as he fights his way through the Valley back to his daughter’s school before she is forcefully screened with other children in the deadly rain.
-----I'm currently reading this in ... Adobe Digital Edition via NetGalley(in my library for 50 days) and digital novel on Scribd. I'm not that invested in the phenomena of the rain coming yet ... I need to turn my imagination up or the wording needs to get less "tell me" but it's just 20-some pages in.

Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon 2021

You can sign up HERE. :-)



__________________________________________

AND THIS IS MY FIRST READ...

Other writing by this author has received high praise!

__________________________________________
I will be browsing Winter Book Lists on Goodreads!

 

Blurry but here's a woodpecker going to town on one of our trees.

Listening To ...

Among today's workout music. :-)
I have lost around 26 pounds since the pandemic started! I've had (diagnosed)metabolism issues, of one sort or another, for decades and this is a huge accomplishment that I will capitalize on while I can.

Martini Vinaigrette (2006)

Notes: A suggestion forum called for a vinaigrette as a base. We bought Ken's Steakhouse Lite Olive Oil Vinaigrette and used remainder of the bottle for another salad. This blended all the flavors perfectly. I chopped up a bunch of Manzanilla olives. For the juice in the dressing, we used concentrated lemon and I have a large bottle left for cooking....I read that most any citrus juice works good with vinaigrette. We used "Three Olives", a vodka imported from England (instead of gin)....a lovely vodka.
Nowadays (2021): I would like to try a martini vinaigrette with the Three Olives Citrus or Cucumber Lime vodka.

"The perfect vinaigrette is so easy to make that I see no reason whatsoever for bottled dressings."
-Julia Child

-----Strawberry Vinaigrette. Light, for Summer Salads. There is also a Strawberry Poppyseed Dressing recipe.
-----Pickle Vinaigrette. The recipe suggests this can also be used to dip bread in.
-----Spring Vanilla Vinaigrette. "Perfect as a dressing for a salad of baby greens with strawberries or grape tomatoes. Sprinkle with toasted walnuts, if desired." A McCormic recipe. There are no reviews yet.
-----Asparagus Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
-----Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette
-----Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette. Versatile, concentrated tomato flavor.
-----Maple Vinaigrette


It's not salad:
-----Pork Chops with Warm Lemon Vinaigrette

(May 22, 2006 ... four of six arrangements.)



Tips:
-----Buy an inexpensive, often sort-of-ugly bouquet, from the supermarket floral store...they all have them.
-----I always keep miscellaneous items like ribbon & glass jars on hand.
-----I combine fake with real.
-----I used to buy vases on extreme clearance...usually 50 cents or less ... they'd probably be a little over a dollar now. The glass jars are usually from groceries. I've a few vases that belonged to my mother.
-----I cut up flowers, real and fake, to make them my own. So much less commercial.
-----I recycle bits of bouquet that are still salvageable from one arrangement to the next.

Having flowers in one's home doesn't have to be expensive! #LittleThings

Back to The Never Cooked With List

Licensed photo. "Farmhouse Fireplace." Taken by Roger Kirby. 

Well, I haven't been keeping up with my ingredient wish list for a while...high time I got back to it. :-)

-----Barley Malt Syrup. The best way to use it is along with other natural sweeteners...I do not know which sweeteners I will use it with yet.
-----Bay scallops...or any scallops. Some of the people on "Hell's Kitchen" make cooking them seem like Rocket Science. They ARE finally starting to get close to affordable and that is cool!
-----Black sesame seeds
-----Farro
-----Garlic Tobasco
-----Hotel Bar Butter. Part of New York cuisine for over a century. I think I first heard of it when reading "Julie& Julia."




Post-in-progress. :-)

My rosebush still had flowers on Halloween. Husband picked them for me.:-)

#SoundtrackOfMyDay

Listening to ...

I crave potato salad!

Me: You won't get mad at me if I eat all the potato salad?
Husband: No.
Me: Everyone has their weaknesses...you like vodka, I like potato salad.
Husband: It's kind of the same thing, Dear.
Husband: I'm a meat and potatoes man.

🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

-----Pesto Potato Salad with Roasted Red Peppers
-----Chipotle Red Pepper Potato Salad
-----Fingerling Potato Salad with Roasted Red Peppers
-----Garlicky Roasted Potato and Bell Pepper Salad

I have a growing potato salad board over on Pinterest.

Here we have a potato salad and traditional meat loaf Husband and I made during a The Joy of Cooking cook-through project. This dish was about a decade ago, so I'd have to pull my current copy of the book ... but that potato salad look like it has dill pickles and bacon.

Here is Red Potato Salad with Whole-Grain Mustard Dressing (2017). We had tons of red onions in this. If I pick up storebought potato salad for a side or spontaneous picnic, red skin is always my first choice(often sold out).



-----Hot Potato Salad. I made this one Summer 2020.
Taste of Home. I love it for comfort foods. :-)
The ingredients add plenty of flavor. The instructions about making sure to stir often and boil a minute are spot on ... it tried to stick right away when the boil started. I used raw apple cider vinegar with "the mother" and think that was an excellent choice for this recipe. Some who tried it felt it could use more salt. I did not have bacon but used mild Spanish paprika ... so there's that. I often use a smoked paprika for bacon taste but couldn't find it among moved spices. I will be repeating and experimenting with this side. I think pepper bacon that might work excellent for this!!!
-----Creamy Dijon-Dill Potato Salad. We had this in 2013 but were out of onions at the time ... the recipe includes red onions. Pretty good. Vegetarian.

Recipes
-----Honey Nectarine Muffins
-----Banana Bread Pancakes

Festival of Lights
Hanakkuh begins Sunday, November 28 at sunset.
Hanakkuh ends ends Monday, December 6 at nightfall.



Nikolaustag (St. Nicholas Day)is December 6.
St. Lucia Day is December 13.
Jewish Winter Solstice Tales



55 days until Christmas.
"The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on Dec. 25 was in 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine."
Christmas is my favorite holiday ... memories of all the care and tradition that my father put into it. When my husband repairs our light strings to do "stringing up the lights" it makes me happy for our family.



January Three Kings Day/Epiphany is January 6. The 12th day of Christmas.

Teppanyaki Steak and Scallops. One person's process for making a Japanese steakhouse-style steak and scallops dinner on the backyard grill. Yum! :-)
With plenty of tips for setting up temperature zones.
~~ I like the seasoning of one cooking oil with another. I keep primarily La Tourangelle artisanal oils for this.
~~Japanese Steakhouse Golden Shrimp Sauce.Kind of like what steakhouses serve for the shrimp appetizers. Described as sweet with a bit of "heat" on the end.
~~A simple ginger dipping sauce ... whirled up in the blender.
~~Perfect fried rice. This is a place where both a salty baste and a sweet baste comes in.
~~Slotted griddle turner spatula. I must replace that among my grill set.
~~VEGGIES :-)
~~Scallions are my thing!
~~Scallops used to be SO expensive here but now are becoming within the price range of the common man. I am looking forward to trying a cook ... vs. watching Gordon Ramsay.
~~ Prep! Timing!
____________________________________________


(I didn't pick the thumbnail ... sigh.)

____________________________________________
Certified Angus Beef
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Appetizers

A new word ... Québécois.


We are looking at holiday foods around the world using the Voyager section of Google Earth. :-)
I like the sentimentality of this one!

And here is Quebec:

Nice footage of plankton, too. The giant eagle rays weigh more than a ton.

Topics at our house:
-----The Punic Wars ... there were 2. This was Hannibal and the elephants, if you don't rememember.
We are moving on to talking about unconventional animals in the history of warfare. Next we will talk about bats ... bats of war.

-----The changing image of what dinosaurs looked like. Science over the years, as seen through art and illustration.

The painting was called "The Country of Iguanadon." By John Martin(1837)

Games we are playing:
-----Playing Reversi/Othello. (free online)

Marge: You... you speak English?
Kang: I am actually speaking Rigelian. By an astonishing coincidence, both of our languages are exactly the same.
— The Simpsons

"What David Bowie Knows"

by Standard Butterfly Wings(me)

Dragged through tunnel of illusions.

Vibrancy ceased.

A hand extended rough and false.

A hand extended rough and false.

Needs to ignore.

Oh, the places we will go.

Needs to ignore.

Needs to ignore. Tears postpone, hide, store.

And I will have more labyrinth survival skills than Bowie.

Photo- 2009. Unknown use for the labyrinth.
Poem- 2013
David Bowie passed away in 2016.

-----Getting a tattoo on a cruise ship ... that's kind of a cool adventure.
-----Dwayne Johnson’s Biggest Tattoo Is Also the Most Meaningful
-----Adam Levine shows off striking butterfly neck tattoo: 'When Instagram goes down ... tattoo your throat'

-----Crispy Smashed Brussels Sprouts. Those are different.
-----Luciano Monosilio’s Carbonara - Carbonara By Rome’s Carbonara King

-----A Chinese Pot Roast for the oven that I want to get around to making. And a slow cooker Chinese Pot Roast (which I will probably get to sooner).
-----Apple and Onion Beef Pot Roast. This includes an apple gravy.

Husband made this little guy that lights up. For a friend who likes the movie Critters.
From Critters 2 ... he doesn't have the same teeth as the original.

Husband: He's so cute. You can style his hair. He's adorable.
Another friend's response: He and I have a different definition of adorable. LOL!!!

-----Mushroom and Garlic Chicken Chow Mein. A few ingredients I needed for an adaptation will arrive soon ... so this one is on our menus. :-)

Misc. on my mind
-----Mexican Cabbage Roll Soup. Taste of Home. This has a freeze option. I might play with spices and the order of the recipe.
-----Chipotle Chicken and Vegetable Soup
-----Authentic Thai Fried Rice. Street Food-style!
-----Saucy Mushroom Salmon with Spinach and Tomato Orzo. That looks colorfully yummy. I might try it with vegetarian modifications.



This is a Salmon Baked In Cream with Sweet Bay, Thyme and Savory that I made for husband as part of late Valentine's (2016). He said it was the best fish I'd ever made him. Husband liked rice side to be plain at the time.
I looked up the recipe used ... dill is the standard vs. savory. :-)

We've also liked:
~~~ Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce from Swanson. One skillet dish that utilizes white wine. It was the first time we used fish stock.

And we liked:
~~~ Roasted Curry Salmon with Tomatoes from Real Simple. Pardon the lighting on this one.

SPOOPATHON

"...you are trapped in a haunted house. The only way out of the haunted house is through reading prompts."

I decided to be on this TEAM because I might want to make my journey more suited to me ... I'm like that sometimes. :-)
"The team with the most points at the end of the readathon become haunted house royalty."
Now on to the starting prompts ...

I picked a book with a black cover. This novella was the inspiration for the movie The Shawshank Redemption. This standalone is just 144 pages ... it made for an interesting and quick start to the month-long readathon that I found late. :-)

And then I find that I have read the actual book (but loved the reread). I've read a lot and this happens a lot. I really do need to start a database. What are your reading pet peeves??
This novella has awesome last few lines. :-) They just make me happy.
FINISHED

This loosely goes along with the book plot. I love the song!



____________________________________



And the next prompt ...

This is also a re-read but I am much fuzzier on the details to this one. Nazi-occupied Holland, crime and a doppelgänger.
This book is compared to Camus! I am on page 13 of 421. Thus far, several characters are disturbed/dysfunctional/messed up.