“Secrets have power,” Widget begins. “And that power diminishes when they are shared, so they are best kept and kept well. Sharing secrets, important ones, with even one other person, will change them.  Writing them down is worse, because who can tell how many eyes might see them inscribed on paper, no matter how careful you might be.  So it’s really best to keep your secrets when you have them, for their own good, as well as yours.

“This is, in part, why there is less magic in the world today. Magic is secrets and secrets are magic, after all, and years upon teaching and sharing magic and worse.  Writing it down in fancy books that get all dusty with age has lessened it, removed its power bit by bit.  It was inevitable, perhaps, but not unavoidable.  Everyone makes mistakes.”

                                                                          Excerpt from:The Night Circus__by Erin Morgenstern

I had the naked dream. You know, the one where you're in the all-together and everyone else is fully dressed and happy to be that way. But this time there was a twist. I was expecting company. Two friends who were going to come into the restaurant just as starkers as I was. It was all planned out.

I was already seated and [for some reason there was a gentleman at the table for four] while he smiled and carried on small talk I waited for my friends. They showed up and guess what, they were dressed. Completely dressed. Not even plunging necklines. One smiled at me in the 'gotcha' kind of way. The other couldn't look at me and kept glancing around nervously. The man at the table kept smiling although the smile seemed to get larger.

Well, wasn't I surprised!

I thought for a minute then got up and sauntered off to the ladies room. An attendant was there and after paying her to get me a tablecloth I wandered outside to flag a cab. I could hear sirens in the distance.

What to do__what to do?  I couldn't go home. The 'friends' would no doubt tell the police where I lived. I told the cabbie to take me to the airport. And so there I was, clad in linen trying to decide on a destination, credit card be damned. I chose Lyon, France. Never been there and always wanted to go.  And maybe, it being France, they wouldn't look too askance at the toga. Fashion freakery and all that.

What I found interesting [I mean besides the underlying implications] was that although the other diners at the restaurant had been a bit taken aback by my lack of attire the people at the airport didn't even blink. Barefoot woman in a toga? No problemo.

Oh. Does anyone know if they have extradition from France to the U.S. ?

Hot Guy Friday__ It's been a while since I've posted on HGF.  I'm a bit out of practice. Instead of getting creative on the search machines I simply typed in hot guy Friday. Here are some of the images.

A very hot guy. :)

The Barbarian.

The fifteen year old. No I'm not cougaring...it's what's being offered as sexy these days. Maybe if you're a teenager.

The happy hot guy. LoL

The very hot guy__but comes with serious family issues.

The classic hot guy.

I also found Pamela Anderson on the page of hot guys.  Why?

Anyway I decided I'm not all that hot over the 'Hot Guys'. Maybe I'm getting too old?  What I did find sexy was__

Hot sun, cool water and some shade. Lovely.

Now that I am contemplating moving into my own space I find myself considering decor. Not the furniture as much as what I want to put on the walls. I have a couple of pieces I will bring with me but for the most part I want fresh things... stuff I haven't been looking at for years.  One of the things I am considering is a changeable placard that I can use to display different sayings.  I'm reading a series of books right now that has either bumper sticker or t-shirt logos at the beginning of each chapter. They make me laugh.

There is great need for a sarcasm font.

Lead me not into temptation. I can find it myself.

I know karate, and like two other Japanese words. 

Ask me about my complete lack of interest.

I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

What would MacGyver do?


The list goes on. The books are written by Darynda Jones: The Charley Davidson series

Many things have been happening around here lately.

I won't go into many because in all honesty, they are boring. But I thought I'd let you all know the progress of looking for a seaside [or close] apt./condo. It's been shelved.  * sigh *  The cost would be too high and the probability of water damage too great. Things on the weather/water front are-a-changing and it's becoming more and more difficult to find places that would be a good investment...and then there's insurance.  Many of the companies are raising their premiums to cover flood damage payouts and if you can find someone to write a policy for water damage you pay through the nose for it. In other words, it's not worth it. 

So, we've decided to put an addition on this house for me.  It will be a single story [no steps, yay!] 2 room w/bath. It's based on a common retirement apt. design. Kitchen, dining, living in one room and bedroom in the other.  It will be easier to keep up for me and I have to say I'm looking forward to it.

If all goes as planned [I know, nothing ever goes as planned] it should be done by summer's end.

Matt has been dating a woman for the last eight months and they are planning on living together in the main part of the house when I move. She has two young children from a previous marriage. Matt has never had a long-term relationship. It should be interesting. He's always been focused on work and school and just dated casually. Just before he got his BS degree he met his current girlfriend. Things progressed and well, as they say, the rest is history. He's still planning on getting his Master's but I think he's going to find things a little different with a relationship and a houseful of people to try to work around. :)  He is getting ready to start a new job that will primarily be telecommuting, which is great. His daily commute is 4hrs a day currently. 

So, that's some of the stuff from the land of topsy-turvy. 

Be well and prosperity...I mean prosper. 

I think we can all agree that it's been one heck of a winter [and for those Down Under, one heck of a summer].

We heat with a wood pellet stove.  It's a great gadget. Pour in forty lbs. of pellets and fire it up. It is our primary source of heat. This year we bought our usual 3 tons of pellets late last summer to keep us nice and toasty thru the Winter. Occasionally we end up buying a couple of extra bags in Spring. This year we needed a lot more than that.  And there weren't any __ anywhere.  Well, there might have been some in Pennsylvania but that's a few states north of here.  What I think I'm trying to say is that it was a cold
winter.  [I needed to tell you that, right?].

Today I went into town to take care of some errands and I noticed the daffodils are up and budding. Yay!!!  Oh, not up here but down in town everything is starting to get Springy and plump. How wonderful.

I just thought you'd like to know that Spring really is coming__even though it's supposed to snow in a few days...again.

The snowy owl. A beautiful creature. They've been in the news often lately. It seems they're moving south. At first it was the northern U.S. Now they've spotted them in Pennsylvania, Virginia and this last week they had one make headlines in Washington D.C. It had been hit by a metro bus. It [she] managed to survive.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/snowy-owl-doing-well-at-rehab-facility-was-apparently-hit-by-a-bus-thursday-morning/2014/01/31/1568f60e-8a81-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

There are varying theories about why the owls are traveling south. Food, water [unlikely but who knows] and then there's my theory. Magnetic change. Yep. I think the magnetic pole wobble and predicted change has thrown them off. Maybe it's also one of the reasons for the beaching of so many marine mammals? Maybe.