Razzmatazlady

Category: Links

  • Sara Paretsky and My Squidoo Lens and Rainy Day Notes

    Jack and I both like to read. We read every single night before we turn out the light. Sometimes for just a few minutes and sometimes for hours. Anyway, we read all sorts of books but right now we’re on a “crime novel” jag and the author of choice is Sara Paretsky.

    Her heroine is a lady private eye named V.I. Warshawski. The stories take place in Chicago. Part of the reason I enjoy them is because we lived there for five years and can follow her travels throughout Chicagoland easily.

    This is my favorite V.I. quote: “Never underestimate a man’s ability to underestimate a woman”. Ha! I love it. Isn’t that just rich????

    I recently did a Squidoo page on Sara Paretsky but it was kind of lacking on content and pictures. I sent a message via her official website to ask permission to use some of the pictures and content in my Squidoo page.

    WELL, I got a personal message from Sara Paretsky, herself, giving me permission to use anything from the website as long as I attribute it to the website! I was SO excited!

    So I’ve redone the page and I think it’s pretty complete. I have to add an RSS feed to it – maybe from her website. If I understand it right (and it’s entirely possible that I’m totally wrong), an RSS feed is basically a link to something that is automatically updated when new content is added. Like news from her website. I’m still learning about feeds so I haven’t finished that part but otherwise I think it’s pretty nifty. Please take a look and tell me what you think. Here’s the link: http://www.squidoo.com/SaraParetsky. You can also get there by clicking on the link in the right hand column. I hope.

    Update on the weather here: It’s raining. There are two good things about that…we need the rain and it’ll probably help the ice go out on the lake. But it makes for another indoor day. Well, there’s lots to do indoors, anyway.

    Hope it’s sunny where you are…

  • Trivia and an Earth Hour Report

    First of all, I’d like to report that we had a terrific Earth Hour, last night. We didn’t have anyone over but I know of at least one couple (old friends of more than 30 years) who observed it at their own home. Jack and I lit some candles in the living room – it looked awesome. And we just sat and visited for an hour.

    We reminisced about our kids and our travels, mostly. We talked about all the places that we’ve lived and the friends that we made. It was a good time.

    The most important thing that happened, though, was that we’ve decided that we’ll have our own Earth Hour from time to time. Like sitting on a warm summer’s evening out on our porch with just a couple of candles and all the windows open. I can hardly wait!

    On a completely unrelated topic: Trivia

    Question: Do you know which of the continental US states extends farthest north?

    Answer: Minnesota. A small piece juts about thirty miles north of the rest of the state according to http://www.triviacafe.com/. I just happened to check out their website and it’s the Trivia Question of the Day.

    It’s called the Northwest Angle. We have good friends who own property up there and you have to drive into Canada in order to get over to the “Angle” as it’s called. That’s a picture of it from the air that I copied from a website. http://www.lakeofthewoodsresorts.com/index.html. Pretty cool.
    Here’s another good Trivia question:
    Question: In 1908 the Wright Brothers tried to sell their invention, the airplane, to which organization?
    Answer: The U.S. Military. I think that’s hilarious!
    Well, I’m off with a cup of coffee and my kitchen redesign magazines. Once we get going on this I’ll post some pictures. Could be awhile.

  • Earth Hour

    You have probably noticed that the Google homepage is black, today. No, they’re not in mourning…it’s to show their support for Earth Hour.
    Earth Hour began in Sydney, Australia in 2007 with more than two million businesses (including the world famous Sydney Opera House) and households turning off their lights for one hour at 8:00 p.m. It’s an attempt to draw attention to climate change. “If the greenhouse reduction achieved in the Sydney CBD during Earth Hour was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year.”

    This year Earth Hour goes global. Denver, Honolulu, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Toronto, Montreal, Copenhagen, Dublin, Tel Aviv, and, of course, Sydney, among others are participating.

    I’ve got my alarm set for 8:00 p.m. I really want to do this but (you know me) if I don’t set my alarm, I’ll probably forget. That’s the “scatterbrain” in me. Good intentions but I need a kick to keep me focused!

    So light some candles, have a glass of wine or a cup of coffee or a beer, relax and enjoy the peace and quiet for one hour. Get the kids involved. They’ll love it! Invite some friends. That’s what we’re going to do. One hour.

    Please visit http://www7.earthhourus.org/ to learn more.

    This link will take you to a page where you can sign up. http://www2.earthhourus.org/signup/ Then spread the word. C’mon, it’s the least we can do. You’ll be glad you did.

    I’ve also noted it on my Squidoo lens with a link to the video. So you can click on this link, if you like. http://www.squidoo.com/QuestForAGreenerLife

    Pass the word. Every little thing we do helps.

  • On The Road Again and Housesitting Info

    Well, we’re leaving L.A. in an hour or so and I might not be able to post again until Wednesday or so.

    Still haven’t found my camera but we’re all pretty sure it’s somewhere amongst all the antiques. Jen has one that she says she never uses so she’s letting me have it. If we find the other or if I buy a new one, I’ll send it back to her. I’m so happy to have a camera, again!

    The apartment is looking good. We’ve got drapes up and pictures hung and all of her little stuff here and there. Bought a really nice buffet at a thrift store that she’s using for a dresser in her bedroom. The nice thing about it is that there are eight drawers – two of them have dividers in them – great for sorting stuff like socks, etc. Hard to describe but take my word for it, it’s great.

    I’m a huge fan of thrift stores and resale shops and garage sales, etc. It’s the ultimate recycling.

    A comment from Lori on yesterday’s post about housesitting made me realize that I haven’t ever mentioned my other Squidoo Lens. It’s all about housesitting. So here’s the link. http://www.squidoo.com/houseandpetsitting. There’s lots of info there.

    While you’re at it, I’ve updated my other lens (My Quest For A Greener Life) at http://www.squidoo.com/QuestForAGreenerLife and I’m working on two more.

    So stay tuned…

  • Do You Squidoo??

    Saturday morning Jack went over to Mount Vernon to hang out with my brother-in-law and to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday.
    I stayed in Winslow so I could work, uninterrupted, on my website. Well, I didn’t finish the website but I DID finish my first Squidoo “lens”. What’s a lens, you ask? In the words of Seth Godin (who is multi-talented – I love his blog), the founder:
    “Squidoo is a website hosting hundreds of thousands of handbuilt webpages (just to be difficult, we call them “lenses”). Each lens is one person’s look at something online. Your take on football or business or the best thai food in town.
    Lenses are free to set up.
    Lenses are easy and totally non-techy.
    Lenses pay a royalty to hundreds of great charities. (Or straight to you! Lots of lensmasters earn hundreds or thousands of dollars a year).
    So I created my first Squidoo lens. I’ve heard that it can be addicting. I think it’s true. In fact, it could be so addicting that I may not even do a website. I could just do multiple lenses on all sorts of subjects.
    Any royalties that I make I will share with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I’d also like to add the MS Society but there wasn’t an option for that. Have sent a query to the “powers that be”. So here’s the link to my lens. http://www.squidoo.com/QuestForAGreenerLife.

    Check it out!

  • A Little Silliness

    There’s a bookstore here in Mesa that has earned my respect. It’s called Changing Hands (www.changinghands.com) and it’s an independent bookstore that was named Bookseller of the Year 2007 by Publishers Weekly. They have new and used books, gifts, storytime for preschoolers including sign language and bilingual storytimes, and a very impressive calendar of events.

    Changing Hands donates books to veterans groups, senior citizens, and prison inmates just to name a few. They also support local Girl Scout and Boy Scout book drives, school book drives, etc.

    And get this…they offer bus fare reimbursement and a bike rack for their employees!

    Anyway, we were over there, today, and I bought a (used) trivia book called This book of More Perfectly Useless Information. It’s great. Pure silliness. Here are a couple of little gems that are on the very first page:

    “Trivia was a Roman goddess to whom sacrifices were offered at crossroads. Because travelers often engaged in idle gossip at crossroads, Trivia’s name (referring to three roads coming together) came to be associated with the sort of information exchanged in such places.”

    “Every time Beethoven sat down to write music, he poured ice water over his head.”

    In the category of “Onlys”, we find these snippets:

    “Almonds and pistachios are the only nuts mentioned in the bible.”

    “The only two people in the Baseball Hall of Fame who had nothing to do with baseball are Abbott and Costello.” (Go ahead, check it out.)

    And this little gem, “Snails make only once in a lifetime, but it can take up to 12 hours.”

    Well, that was fun!

  • A Worthwhile Exhibit and a Worthwhile Link

    The Titantic Exhibit at the Phoenix Science Museum was just wonderful. We first watched the IMAX movie Titantica and then went to the exhibit.

    That was definitely the way to do it because the items that were recovered from the ocean floor were so much more meaningful after seeing them on the ocean floor in the movie! It took the two little submarines 2 1/2 hours to reach the ocean floor! Unbelievable.

    http://www.freerice.com/

    As for the worthwhile link, Michael Werner of Dream Jobs Dialog posted a bit about a terrific website that is both fun and worthwhile at the same time. Click on this link and check it out! I was fascinated You’ll learn something, for sure!

  • The King of Rock & Roll

    Today is Rock ‘N Roll Day and Blue Suede Shoes Day in honor of the King of Rock ‘n Roll. Elvis Presley was born on January 8th in 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi.

    I remember going to see my first Elvis movie with some girlfriends. I think it was “Love Me Tender.” I don’t remember how old I was but it was a Really Big Deal to get to go to a movie in the first place! Most of the girls in the theater were screaming and crying and although I was very excited, I just couldn’t muster up that degree of hysteria. I remember being totally fascinated with the whole scene.

    Elvis is mostly remembered for his wiggle, his military duty and his fast and furious lifestyle. And for his tragic dealth. But not very many people know that he was very philanthropic, as well. It has been reported that he frequently gave away cars, jewelry and even houses!

    According to one Elvis website (elvis.com.au) he performed a benefit concert in Hawaii that raised $65,000 toward the building of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. That was in 1961. Elvis raised money for other causes, too, and often helped friends, family members and total strangers who needed financial assistance of one sort or another. All without any fanfare or publicity. He was kind and humble.

    There will never be another Elvis, that’s for sure! Those were the days…

  • The Day After Xmas Stuff…

    It was a nice relaxing Christmas, this year. We loved that there was no snow. We loved that it was in the 70’s! It’s absolutely not true that life in California is over-rated. The only other place that I’ve been where the weather is possibly better (year-round) is the Hawaiian Islands. Maybe.

    O.K., maybe if you had to buck the traffic every day that would get old.

    O.K., the smog in the city is a turn-off.

    But here in the Beach Cities where the air is clear and it’s sunny and warm? I gotta say it’s pretty darned nice.

    I got really good gifts, this year. Jack gave me a pair of tennis shoes which I needed since I forgot to pack any. And he made a very generous contribution to my kitchen remodel fund. I got a great huge mug for my coffee. It’s a Los Angeles mug so it’s also a souvenir. Love it. No coal in my stocking.

    Got a JoAnn Fabrics gift card, too, which I love because I’m always working on a do-it-yourself project or two. I do spend a lot of money at that store. I should probably own JoAnn stock.

    Speaking of gift cards, I love getting gift cards but just in case you received some gift cards that you don’t want or can’t use did you know you can swap them or donate them to a worthy cause? One of my favorite websites is called The Ideal Bite. (It’s listed in my “Useful Websites” list. I subscribe to their Daily Tip which comes in my email. Today’s tip is about that very thing. Here are two websites to check out. Very sensible.

    giftcardbuyback.com/index.cfm
    swapagift.com/

  • A Trip to the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market and a Couple of Bargain Websites

    Today we’re going to the farmers’ market in Santa Monica. We’ll be getting fresh veggies for our Christmas dinner of Roast Prime Rib with Yorkshire Pudding. Jen tells us that there are all sorts of great offerings at that market so it’ll be fun. Will post more about that adventure later.

    I found two noteworthy websites while “surfing the net”. Is the phrase “surfing the net” even cool, anymore??? I probably should bone up on the lingo. (Lingo? Is that even cool anymore? Is “cool” even cool?) Got a lotta learnin’ to do…

    In any case, these both have to do with saving money and who doesn’t want to do that? The first one is CoolSavings and the second is CouponMom. Check ’em out! I think I’ll reference both of them on my “real” blog/website when I get it up and running. BTW, I’m still working on the domain name thing.