I am going to scream!!!

 OK So I am at work and this is just a head's up-that damm F$#@!&^%$(*&%^$#@*()&% windows 10 is screwing up our computer at home and my hubby has informed me that he can't get onto the internet or anything....AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I am missing my wonderful craft card challenges. I have not listened to all the Battle of the Bands. I have not read all of the Insecure Writer Support Group stuff nor can I read people's blogs which I enjoy. All because of that flipping Windows 10!

My ex is gone for 2 weeks camping and I don't know anyone who knows this crap. So if you don't see me it is because of this! My hubby is in the doghouse for wanting this thing. Can you tell I am pissed!! OK I shall calm down and figure out something but I do not plan on waiting for 2 weeks. Wish me luck!

Thursday Movie Picks!-Teachers

Every week there is a topic that you have to showcase 3 films that you have seen and talk about. They can be great films, films you love or hate but they must adhere to the topic. This week the topic is Teachers. This was created over at Wandering Through The Shelves and you can find the rest of the participants there. Who knows maybe you will want to join:)

So here is my list.....

1. The King and I-1956

You know, this was my Dad's favourite film! A man who worked in the lumber industry all his life and was a veteran of World War 2, loved this film! It's very loosely based on a true story where a teacher travels to, then Siam (now Thailand), to help teach the King's many wives and his many children, Western culture. Now can I say, I don't care a rat's ass about political correctness here because it is a beautifully photographed film with great performances and wonderful music. My dad's and my favourite scene is when the King introduces all his children to the teacher (played by Deborah Kerr). Yul Brynner reprized his Broadway role as the King and won an Oscar for this role. In fact, later in life he toured in it and I had the privilege of seeing him in this role in the early 1980's.

2.  Teacher's Pet-1958

I enjoy this movie so much because it is light but quite funny. Doris Day is a teacher who asks old-fashioned reporter, Clark Gable to talk to her journalism class. He writes a nasty letter which she proceeds to cut up in her class room while he is present (at his boss's insistence). It showcases old vs new style of journalism with romance thrown in. Gig Young is hilarious as Day's boyfriend (love the drunk scene).

3. The Miracle Worker-1962

I was going back and forth between "Goodbye Mr. Chips" to "To Sir, With Love" and another film which I am saving for later but my mind kept coming back to this riveting film about Annie Sullivan who teaches Helen Keller sign language. Realizing how big Helen Keller became, it is hard to imagine that she was this wild child who didn't even eat from her own plate. Helen Keller would not be known today if it was not for the teaching of Annie Sullivan. Powerful performances keep you enthralled in this story.

So these are my three. There are newer films like "Good Will Hunting" and "October Sky" and one film, "Dead Poet's Society" I still have to see but I chose the three above.

Insecure Writer's Support Group...The Sausage Incident.

It is that time again folks where we release our fear and insecurities to the world about writing, publishing  and all that other jazz. Of course, I am not a writer-hahaha! but the wonderful Alex J Cavanaugh, who spearheards this IWSG, has graciously said that I can join in on the merriment so I have been doing just that.

I can say that if ever you feel like giving up, let this true story be a lesson in stubbornness. So without further ado, let me start my story of the ...(hear the doom, doom doom music and you must hear that title in a baritone that echoes) THE SAUSAGE INCIDENT!

I was a sweet (HA!) blond, blue-eyed lass of about 7, maybe younger, who knew what she liked and what she didn't. I did not like sausage and, in fact, still hate sausage to this day (get your minds out of the gutter). Even the look of them makes me think of fat slime greasy things...you know, like Donald Trump. We always had family dinners and there was just the 4 of us-we were like the typical family from happyland (again HA!). Our Dining area was right beside the kitchen with a counter separating the two areas. My mom was making the dinner and we all sat down in our usual spots to begin eating. At that moment, my mom placed an ugly sausage on my plate. I looked down at this, this thing from another horror show and looked up at her with disgust. My mom thought it was time again to let me try the greasy, fatty thing called a sausage to see if I would open up my realm of food and give this piece of crap a try.  She looked at me and said in a nice calm voice, "Birgit, give it a try, you might find you like it now."  I looked at her wondering what drug she was on believing she has been replaced by a pod and my real mom had been snatched away. I replied, "I don't like it, I don't want it!" ( yes I was such a sweetie).  My mother calmly tried to talk to me believing her words would entice me to eat that grease slick called meat on my plate. I just replied "I don't like it. I don't want it." She took the plate away and cut up the piece of crap thinking this would entice me even more. I just glared at her thinking she wanted to change  me into some strange girl who always agrees with what she says (that'll never happen). She now had developed a certain, shall we say, edge in her voice and said I should give it a try because "one never knows until one tries something." I folded my arms and repeated my saying. She nudged the plate closer to me so I could smell the vial stench and, as any good brat will do, I pushed the plate back and said "I don't like it, I don't want it!" Now my mom, who usually made food that my brother and I would eat and usually would not push the topic, must have had a bad day or maybe I was her bad day, because she suddenly got very angry and in a voice only mothers can do, told me I must take a bite of this sausage. I started to cry and told her I don't like it and will not eat it.  She threw up her arms and said loudly that she has no idea what she will do with me walking around the counter to the kitchen area.

My dad finally piped in and with his loud voice said, "Ruth! Don't force her, let her eat what she wants. Birgit, What would you like to eat?" I answered, "Chocolate ice cream!" My dad chimed back, "Ruth, get her some chocolate ice cream!" With that, my mom totally flipped her lid, could not utter a word but just high pitched sounds, came back towards me. I realized that the chocolate ice cream stunt went a bit too far as the devil that was formally my mom, picked up a fork, stabbed the greasy gunk off my plate, pulled my hair back and tried to ram that sausage down my throat. Now you would think, by this point I would give in, but you are wrong,  By Grabthar's hammer, I refused to open my mouth as the slimy mass went all over my face. My mother, normally very sweet and truthfully a wonderful mom, went further into cuckoo's nest territory, and plugged my nose thinking I would open my mouth. I was on to her for, you see, I saw an I Love Lucy episode where Ricky tried to force feed Lucy, so I did the exact same thing Lucy did and just opened my lips slightly but had my teeth clamped down tighter than a monkey's butt.

With that, my mom threw the fork down on the plate, my dad told my mom she was a wild woman and to calm down and I was victorious since I did not taste that vile fatty thing called a sausage. Yes, you can say I am stubborn and yes, I did put a few grey hairs on my mom's head, but rest assured, you can also say I never gave up!  Never give up-never surrender!

Yippee! Can post a picture!!

Black, light blue and white glitter cardstock, snowflake diecut, embossing folder-snowflakes, cuddlebug and sizzex machine, magenta crystals, black glitter beads, ribbon, Merry Christmas sticker.

Holly Jolly Christmas-Snowflakes and Sparkle
Christmas Cards All Year Round-Snowflakes
Color Throwdown-White, Black, Light Blue, Pink
Alphabet Challenge-No design paper

Yippee! Thanks to my ex, I am now able to get this working. I have been using the old search engine and he said it is best to go to Google chrome. I don't know why one works and the other doesn't but this is why I  am not a computer geek. I am a geek in many other things but not that:) I was able to get one card done in my busy time and I am glad about that. Ask me what I have been busy with and it is nothing like saving the world, organizing my life or pondering the meaning of life, it is just the regular stuff we do every day, you know...boring stuff. So onward to another week ahead.....Is it Friday yet?

Thursday Movie Picks-Step-Families

Grrrrrrrr-My hubby decided to download Windows 10.....need I say more! So I have been trying to download the pictures I saved and it looks like it works but when I press "Continue", it just will not go anywhere!! I wish he would not have downloaded this but try and stop Mr. ADHD Man.

OK So this week at Wandering Through The Shelves, the topic is Step-Families.  I picked 2 semi-older films and one newer one...at least to me. So without any more computer #$%^$@! here is my list.

1. With Six You Get Eggroll

OK-This is so annoying! I can't seem to download the pictures this Wednesday eve so I have to do this at work(shhhhh). I hate this!!! Oh...right...no more bitching. OK, so this film stars Doris Day with a really bad hairdo and Brian Keith, whom I love (Yes I watched Hardcastle and McCormick), in a romantic comedy where they meet on a blind date. It doesn't go well right at first but as all these movies go, they fall in love much to the displeasure of her 3 sons and his daughter. Even the 2 dogs don't get along. It co-stars George Carlin in his film debut and there are 2 hippies you will recognize from M.A.S.H-Jamie Farr (Klinger) and William Christopher (Father Mulcahy). It's a fun film to see even if it is not a major "Oh Wow-what a great film" movie to see.

2.  Yours, Mine, and Ours-1968

This stars Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda as to adults, with way too many kids each, meet, fall in love and marry. This is based on a true story by the way. Even though Lucille Ball is a little too old to have such a young child, this film is fun and sweet. I love it when the kids get the Lucy character drunk but how she doesn't know there is alcohol in her drink is beyond me. This film is much better than the remake.

3.  Ever After-1998

I love fairy tales. I read them when I was a kid and thought they were quite justified to have the wicked stepmom dance in red hot boots-she was bad so the bad get their just desserts. Anyway this film stars Drew Barrymore and she was never better. In fact, I would say she gave one of her better performances here. This is a take on the Cinderella story and makes it more realistic. Her father marries, but shortly after croaks as fathers do in fairy tales. This leaves her daughter with her not so nice step mom played by the great Angelica Huston. Drew can stand up for herself and along the way befriends not only the prince but Leonardo Da Vinci. I enjoyed this film immensely.

So there ya go! These are my three. Now let's hope I can download pictures in the near future or that volcano that has erupted will be caused by my screaming.

I am a bad girl-I had to download them here at work-I hate that!

Thursday Movie Picks!

It is the weekly series I recently joined which you can view at Wandering Through The Shelves. This week it is East-Asian non horror films. OK...so I am not an expert on this at all but I have seen 3 of them (should see more). There is another one coming up that is South-East Asian films....I have not seen any so I know I will be skipping that week. Anyhoo, On with the show!

The Seven Samurai-1954

Now you know I would pick this one because it is one of the most popular films ever for a foreign film plus it was remade as The Magnificent Seven which I also love. There is a village with peasants who are fed up with a bandit and his un-merry men. They find Samurais to help them stand up to these nasty buggers. Some die and some do not, but this tale  is rich in characters, imagery and honour. It is consistently listed as one of the top films ever made. It is a tribute to Akira Kurosawa's greatness as a director and makes Toshiro Mifune an international star. It is a great film.

Shall We Dance -1996

Yes, I have spoken of this film before but I do love it and find it much superior to the American remake. There is so much more subtlety and just a loveliness to the film that the American film fails to grasp. It is a secret in more ways than one since ballroom dancing is considered an embarrassment to some Japanese re: their culture. I find the acting so much better overall and it is just a beautiful and fun film.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon- 2000

I love this film! This is a mystical fairy tale with some great kick ass fighting scenes including one in the trees where the actors were actually in the trees (on wires mind you)! It  stars Michelle Yeoh  who is not only beautiful but likes to do her own stunts. She is the first kick ass beauty in James Bond films not Halle Berry.  Ok back to this film-the fighting is great and almost poetic. One sees young love and passion but we also see wise love that is deep and profound. As much as there is fighting in this film, I feel it is also a film about love and loyalty. A Must see!

Some More Cards!

Plastic gal, Only car I can afford, Orange, turquoise and brown cardstock. Music note stamp and time stamp, Apricot brown dye ink, Raspberry ink and embossing powder, Tombow markers, permanent markers.

Colour Q- Brown, orange, turquoise, white

Oh yes this is my inspiration from the most recent Battle of the Bands. Stephen T McCarthy who loves American Graffiti (who wouldn't??) chose the song "Since I Don't Have You" which was in the film. I thought what better way to showcase the music  but have a 1950's car leaving this 50's gal behind who took his heart and stomped on it. Well she is holding it up like a trophy. Music was changing big time in the 50's with rock and roll and it is a by-gone era so why I thought the watch would work here. I hope I did the music and, what inspired me, justice.

 white glossy cardstock, gray pastel chalk, weed stamp, blue embossing powder and dye ink, stickers. Blue distress ink.

Craft Your Passion-Always anything goes

Yup I was too late for the Color throwdown and they are colours I love! Blue and ...blue. I tried a new style which is using the Tim Holtz distress ink. I stamped it on a platform (that you can clean up after) and spritzed it with water and then just laid the white card down on it. Not too bad eh? I don't have any sparkle on this either-what is the world coming to!!

butterfly stamp, clear stamp pad and embossing powder, distress inks, sizzex machine and butterfly die cut. Border punch, cute saying rubber stamp, turquoise stamp pad and shimmer gold embossing powder, fancy scissors.

Happy Little Stampers- CASE (clean and simple)-masking

This was hard for me to do...why? I had to make it simple with no embellishments. This is like asking me to forgo chocolate for a year. I did it though and it looks pretty good overall. I stamped and embossed the butterflies first. You can't see them until you place the colour on top. I did this the same way as I mentioned above. The colour does not adhere to what was masked. After enduring wrist pain trying to get the corner punch to work and almost hurling it through the window, My hubby came up and did it for me. I cut out the butterfly (machine does all the work) and coloured the wings and attached the wings to the butterfly with a glue pen.

White and grey cardstock, cuddlebug machine and folder, light blue glossy paper, snowflake die cut and snowflake diecut border, white glitter, stickles, ribbon, crystal.

Happy Little Stampers-Christmas-Sparkle.
Christmas Cards All Year Round-Snowflakes
CASE Christmas-Case the card on their blog and be inspired by it.
CHNC-Anything Goes as long as it is Christmas

Yup-a really hot day so I made a Christmas card with a snowflake because I felt a little flaky. Um....well I did and do feel flaky so there. Of course I used my favourite colour-blue and any shade will do. I used sparkle and shine and felt just fine:) I was inspired by the CASE card because they had a snowflake border punch and a design on their paper and some ribbon and lace. I hope this works.

So there we have it. I was in bad pain yesterday- my ribs hurt and I could hardly talk (my hubby was so happy). I had no idea until the Dr. and Naturalpath told me that the ribs are jointed also since they must move(never knew that). I was happy to make a card and start a couple before laying on the couch. I am better today so could finish all. I am pleased with myself that I overcame the pain so I am bragging a bit:) I will be back to work tomorrow-I had 2 weeks off and mainly did a staycation but it was nice being away from work.

Hope you like my BOTB card and how I was inspired. Have a great week everyone!