Saturday Snapshot: A Small Foray into Gardening

On May 11, 2013May 11, 2013 By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot14 Comments

The weather is warming up, and I am attempting to grow things. Tomatoes, in fact, because I eat a lot of tomatoes…and they seemed do-able. I live in an apartment and the absolute only place to put plants is on the landing outside my second-story door. So I went to the farmer’s market two weeks ago (this would have been last week’s post, but Mr. Crawford pre-empted it), and…here we are.

I didn’t have the slightest idea what kind of tomato plant to buy. But the guy at the farmer’s market told me Sungolds are sweet, and I bought a Violet Jasper because, um, I liked the name… So it’s all rather an experiment. We’ll see how it goes!

If it goes well, you’ll be seeing more pictures. And, of course, if it goes badly, we will never speak of this again… But so far, I’m enjoying my (very) small foray into gardening!

Visit At Home with Books for more Saturday Snapshots.

Saturday Snapshot: With Love, Michael Crawford

On May 4, 2013May 2, 2013 By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot16 Comments

I had very exciting mail this week…

But before I get to that, let me tell you a story, if I may. I’ll give you the short version. About eight years ago, a friend loaned me a copy of Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera, and a CD of Webber’s musical. I wasn’t all that into the book, but I liked the soundtrack. And so an obsession was born.

A couple years after that, after a lot of delving into Phantom versions and who-knows-how-many times through the soundtrack, another friend suggested I find Michael Crawford’s other CDs. Crawford was the original Phantom in London and Broadway, and his is the voice on the soundtrack. As my friend suggested, listening to his other CDs would be like listening to the Phantom sing other songs–and it was! And so a new obsession was born.

I now have all of Crawford’s CDs because, well, he’s amazing. Somewhere along the way I stopped hearing the Phantom when Crawford sang and started hearing Crawford when the Phantom sang…if that makes any sense!

Recently I had an opportunity to mail an item in for a personalized autograph. And so, exciting mail arrived this week…

I could have had my Phantom soundtrack signed…but I suspect Crawford signs a lot of Phantom CDs! And I wanted this one anyway, because it’s my favorite. Or to be more precise, the last song on the CD, “A Piece of Sky,” is mind-blowing, life-altering, unbelievably amazing.

So I’d say that’s the most exciting mail I’ve had in, hmm, a long time. Couldn’t resist sharing!

Have a wonderful weekend, and visit At Home with Books for more Saturday Snapshots!

Saturday Snapshot: Book Delight

On April 27, 2013April 26, 2013 By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot17 Comments

I don’t usually post pictures of books for Saturday Snapshot (seeing as I do that all week…) but this week I couldn’t resist. I had a new arrival in the mailbox that has me thrilled to pieces.

I’ve been wanting to read a really good, in-depth biography of L. M. Montgomery for years, and I finally decided to buy Mary Rubio’s Gift of Wings…which weighs in at some 750 pages! But I need something that long, if I want it to tell me anything that I haven’t already read in the thousands of pages of Montgomery’s journal…

After you’ve read that much about one person, you get sort of invested (obsessed?)…and want to know more. At least, I do! And while I haven’t started reading the biography yet, I’m taking this picture at the front as a good sign…

The book opens with a picture of Montgomery I’m fairly sure I’ve never seen–and to be honest, I don’t think there’s all that many of those left!

I’m not exactly recommending any of these books, unless you really like L. M. Montgomery (and possibly not even then…) It all makes me think that writing isn’t intrinsically interesting or boring (maybe some is), but rather, something is interesting if we’re interested by it. Circular? Probably. All I know is that I balk at 500 page fiction books, even in fantasy, a genre I love…but I’m delighted by the prospect of a 750 page, non-fiction biography about a woman who lived in Canada a hundred years ago. Oh, and wrote a little book called Anne of Green Gables, followed by some twenty others.

Well, enough ruminations for Saturday morning! Have a lovely weekend, and visit At Home with Books for more Saturday Snapshots.

Saturday Snapshot: Doctor Who Shirts

On April 20, 2013April 20, 2013 By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot19 Comments

Every so often, I just can’t resist a good fandom t-shirt. So I wandered into Hot Topic a few weeks ago and went exploring through the Doctor Who section. After poking through a lot of Matt Smith (11th Doctor) merchandise, I finally found two David Tennant (10th Doctor) shirts. The 11th Doctor is all right in his way, but I’m a Tennant fan…and even better, the shirts center around two of my favorite 10th Doctor jokes.

Here’s Mr. Tennant himself, with the 10th Doctor trademark phrase, “Allons-y!” It’s French–means “Let’s go.” And this brilliant video collecting the Doctor’s “Allons-y” moments will explain the fun of it far better than I can.

This is a 10th Doctor quote from the excellent episode “Blink,” and context…would not really explain much (though here’s the clip, if you want it–the quote above is about a minute and a half in).

Suffice to say, this was the Doctor’s explanation for some time travel weirdness, and the real fun of it is quoting it in Doctor Who (or general geek) discussions. Anything not quite making logical sense? Eh–it’s just wibbly wobbly, timey whimey. The best is when you can get several fans together who will join in and recite in unison. It’s happened to me. 🙂

All right, so much for your Saturday dose of geekdom! 🙂 Have a splendid weekend–and, of course, check out At Home with Books for more Saturday Snapshots. Allons-y!

Saturday Snapshot: Whimsical Wisteria

On April 6, 2013April 5, 2013 By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot12 Comments

It must be spring again–the wisteria is back in bloom. Such a very pretty flower–it’s too bad it lasts so briefly! I haven’t managed to snap a picture yet this year, but it’s the right season to trot out a few shots from previous springs around my neighborhood…