It costs a hefty piece of change to go to the movies these days. The price of a ticket may soon reach the height of the International Space Station, and the price of concession snacks rivals the cost of a surf and turf dinner. Going to the movies has become a large investment of time and money. The last thing you want is to be disappointed in the movie you chose to see.
There are so, so many franchise restaurants in this country of ours. Sometimes I think there are too many. I imagine that most people tend to patronize them because they know exactly what they’re going to get wherever they happen to be during their travels, and they don’t worry about unpleasant surprises.
But what about pleasant surprises? What about the thrill of discovery? We miss out on both if we overlook mom and pop restaurants and other little hole in the wall gems.
Take the mom and pop cafe that Macho Guy and I found on Mount Dessert Island when we visited Acadia National Park. This was a definite gem. We stopped in just for a little snack. MG had his taste buds set for a lobster roll, and that’s what he ordered. I was in the mood for blueberry pie. The wedge of pie served to me was huge, three inches high, and tightly packed full of blueberries with just enough blueberry juice for moistness. The crust was light and flaky. One bite and I was in Heaven. The cafe owners were retired military who met and married while in the Army. If that pie was an example of Army chow, I would have enlisted years ago. Continue reading »
It isn’t fair when pet peeves pile on. Enduring one in a day is annoying enough. Enduring two in the same day is cruel and unusual punishment.
On a very recent Saturday afternoon, Macho Guy and I decided to see a movie. As it happens, I have a bone to pick with the movie theater experience. There once was a time when people went to the movies and actually saw just that—movies—and a cartoon or two, or even a double feature. Movie theaters hyped the fact that unlike television, when you went to the movies, you didn’t have to watch commercials. Continue reading »
When Macho Guy and I relocate to Florida in the winter, the most difficult aspect of the move for me is to do without with my computer desk—and my HP Officejet All-in-One—for the duration of our stay in the Sunshine State. ::sniffle, sob::
I absolutely adore my golden oak computer desk. It is the anchor corner of my writer’s cave. It has shelves for books, nooks for electronic devices and for a wheeled computer case, slots for music CDs [Mozart, especially, for when I’m plotting], slide out under-desktop shelves for an external keyboard and track pad, drawers for files and office supplies, and a large flat surface on which to set an external monitor and spread notes out—and make a ginormous mess, prominently featuring several tall untidy stacks of papers, each representing a different work in progress. Nirvana. Sheer nirvana. Continue reading »
That old quotation—a picture is worth a thousand words—is not easy for a writer to hear. Words are the tools of our craft after all. So, I like to interpret the quotation to mean that it takes a thousand words to describe a picture, or any visual image for that matter. It has nothing to do with actual worth. Pictures and words are equally worthy. I think we can all agree on that, can’t we?
Having said that, I confess that in addition to my lifelong love affair with the written word, I love pictures. A photograph is a moment frozen in time, a moment I can recall and relive every time I look at it. On past vacation trips, I lugged a Nikon F 35mm SLR camera, plus two additional lenses and film, everywhere we went. These days, whenever I see something that speaks to me visually, out comes my iPhone 5s and click goes its digital camera, but not immediately—not until I frame the image perfectly and take several shots to make certain I captured its essence. I stopped to take so many photos on our last trip that Macho Guy became impatient and started calling me Ansel Adams. I patiently explained that taking a memorable photograph is an art. He wasn’t convinced. Continue reading »
