Broken blog

Gah! I'm trying post, but it won't let me upload images, so.... *sigh* I have nothing to say. Except I'm so glad it's Friday. Oh, and tonight on Fox they are running the final 4 episodes of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, one of the funniest and most original shows to grace the TV in recent memory. It's a true shame that it's being cancelled. And even more pathetic that they're running them in a 2 hour block, up against the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies, and on a different night than it's ever played on. And they never advertised it. Just throwing it up in the air and shooting it. SHAME SHAME SHAME on them. If you don't have other plans, watch it tonight, and you'll understand my sadness.... And hopefully someday my Blogger will let me upload picts again.

Oh and if you scroll down you'll see a "new" post about our trip to Vegas. Don't know why they won't let me change the date... annoying feature. Or "missing feature", I should say.

What is Cute?

Holy crap. I just spent my entire lunch break playing around on this site Peter found...

Check it out...!

www.cuteoverload.com

As he warned me it would be, it's ridiculously addicting. Recommended page: go to the "Coveted Cuteness Trifecta" section... and scroll down for some amazing inter-species picts... very cute!

Vegas, baby!

A couple of weekends ago, Peter and I spent 2 1/2 days in Las Vegas on an incentive trip for his company. We stayed at the Bellagio (beautiful hotel) and had a blast. We saw the Cirque du Soleil show "O", which was jaw-droppingly amazing. And ate lots of food at the buffet and played Blackjack at all hours of the night. I preferred to play it on the computerized machines, where I felt a little "safer" with my 25 cent bets... A few times I was up $20 at BJ or even $65 at Roulette... only to lose it all again. Peter, we discovered, loses when I'm in the room. But does great when I'm not. So, after I was on a plane bound for Ohio and out of the STATE... he won $500 at the Blackjack tables! Woo-hoo! Kind of sad that I can't ever witness his winning streaks, and a little sadder that I'm his "bad luck charm".... ah well... The winnings paid for my flight, so that's good.

The choreographed fountains at the Bellagio Hotel... with the Paris hotel in the background...

Films of 2005

Okay, the Oscar nominations were announced this morning. I love watching the nominations and somehow I'm always emotional and/or crying by the end, because I can imagine the pure joy and thrill for all those nominated for the first time. Same was true this morning, except in between the happy emotional squeals were bursts of "what?!?!" when certain films were or were not nominated.

I think 2005 was a pretty damn good year for films -- I have lots of favorites and I believe several categories hold 5 very very deserving nominees. I'm thrilled about all the nominations for GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK and BROKEBACK.

My favorite films of the year:

1) GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK
2) WALK THE LINE
3) BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
4) CINDERELLA MAN
(need to see MUNICH and MATCH POINT)

And here are my personal shocks and disappointments after reviewing the nominee list again:

-- WALK THE LINE - not nominated for Best Picture!!! How is that possible?

-- CAPOTE - doesn't belong in the Best Picture category (stole the spot from WALK THE LINE)

-- CINDERELLA MAN - should have been nominated for Best Picture, Best Director for Ron Howard, and Best Actor for Russell Crowe. I never even liked Crowe until this film! Frankly, I also think Renee Zellweger is worthy of a nod.

-- CRASH - In my opinion doesn't belong in the Best Picture or Best Director category (acting, yes; screenplay, maybe). I'm pissed that it took the spot from other more deserving films and directors, like:

-- MATCH POINT & Woody Allen were shut out from Best Picture and Best Director (I guess, despite critical acclaim, this is not his comeback afterall...)

-- KING KONG & Peter Jackson were shut out from Best Picture and Best Director (I actually really liked this film, and I kinda feel for the guy this morning, since he probably hoped his whole life that this would be his big film)

-- Only THREE (3) Songs nominated for Best Song - WTF??! What happened to the song from BROKEBACK that won the Golden Globe?? Weird

-- ERIC BANA not nominated for MUNICH? I haven't even seen the film, but I hear he's excellent. Too bad.

Those are my thoughts for now... I'm sure I'll get more worked up about it as we get closer to March 5th. By the way, I'll be taping the awards show as I'll be flying home from New York City (yay!) that night...

Ice out to get me

Yesterday was not a fun day. It's like the weather was conspiring against me. We woke up to a snow-covered yard... which was actually very pretty and the first time in awhile we've had snow that stayed on the ground.

Our street had not been plowed or salted when I left for work and as I approached the stop sign at the intersection... my car wouldn't stop. I pushed the brake as far and hard as I could... while the car inched forward, creeping into the intersection. I look to my left and see a big yellow school bus heading towards me... Gah! Miraculously, the car did finally come to a stop, about 2 feet into the road. In my rear view mirror, I see another car approaching.... "please let him stop, so he doesn't ram me into this bus!" I survived, obviously. Later it occurred to me that I hadn't thought of a few things... like pulling the parking brake, or ... at what point should I be bailing out of the car and running away? I thought of those stories of people stuck on train tracks, frozen in fear, and they die because they don't think to get out of their car. Later my car did it's lurching thing again and I panicked the whole way to work thinking it would stall on me again.

Flash-forward to the evening. I come home after the gym and take Sammi on a quick walk around the neighborhood. It's really cold out, but I'm still warm from my workout. Sammi is so excited to be outside and she's tugging me along... until I hit an icy patch on the sidewalk... and BOOM I'm on the ground. Ouch! I felt like an idiot, I felt mad at Sammi, and I hurt. : ( I muttered obscenities as I limped my way back home. Took a long, hot shower and sat down on the couch for the rest of the night.

Today it's in the low 50's (bizarre turn of weather), so I'm hoping for a better day...

My Loki

Many of my friends don't even know Loki from his early years, when he would fly around my room, climb out of his cage to come sleep on top of my (still sleeping) head. He would preen my arm hairs. He did interesting things on the bathroom towel-rack... He chewed up my book spines and my antique wood dresser... He sang with me, he snuggled with me, he listened to me as I went through all the wonders and hell of being a teenager.

Losing him now is kind of like putting a lid on my childhood...

For the sake of "history" and his place in my life, I suppose I should post my announcement of Loki's death. Most of you who are my friends have already read this... And at the end are some photos of my little Loki-Lokster. *sigh*

---Dated 1/10/06 @ 11:30 PM---

My beloved Loki died tonight... in my hands. He would have been 20 years old next month on Valentine's Day. I got him when he was 9 weeks old from my good friend's Dad, who bred cockatiels. He knew all my secrets growing up -- he was a constant sound in the background... I thought he had another 10 years in him. I've always been so afraid of this day... not knowing what to expect or what would happen. I've always read and been told that birds generally don't show any signs of sickness or impending death until it just... happens. And that's pretty much how it happened tonight. All I can say is I'm sooooooo eternally grateful that we were home... that I was holding him... that we were with him and we know what happened. Peter and I had been downstairs in the basement for 2 hours tonight, taking turns on the exercise bike while watching TV. We never would have heard anything from Loki from down there. We came upstairs at about 10:20 PM, and at about 10:45, Loki fell ill. I'm thinking it was probably a heart attack, but there's no way to be sure (beyond an autopsy, which I don't feel the need for). He fell from his perch to the floor of his cage -- something he does all the time and it's very weird but normal for cockatiels to do that in their sleep. Honestly, I don't know if he was sleeping when it happened, or if he was awake... Peter went to his cage to see that he was okay, but he wasn't able to stand up. His wings were outstretched sort of to catch himself... but he couldn't stand up. Peter called me over from the computer and I hesitated in getting up. Partly because I figured it was nothing, but partly because I felt dread and denial and didn't want to know something was wrong... I picked him up into my hands and it was so strange that he couldn't stand up on my hand. He just sort of rested in the cup of my right hand, and his feathers and wings were sort of poofed out a little bit. He was breathing really hard -- panting. I didn't know what to do for him. I tried dipping my finger and a paper towel in water and putting it by his beak, but he wasn't interested. He was alert, but not moving... he was very focused on his breathing. I could feel his little heart just pounding out of his chest against the palm of my hand. At this point, I knew he was dying... I couldn't realistically see him recovering from this attack... I felt very helpless. I kept petting him gently and reassuring him. It reminded me of when I held him for 2 hours repeating "it's ok" to him after a big middle-of-the-night earthquake back in like 1988 or 89. Meanwhile, Peter was on the phones trying to track down an emergency vet specializing in birds and he finally found one. While they were talking, Loki had some sort of seizure or something. It was kind of like in the movies when someone has some weird jolt of movement and then dies. Loki stood up, sort of, and stretched his wings, and his claws gripped me tightly, and then... he just... passed away... and fell gently back into my hand. It was totally surreal. The whole thing from when he fell until when he died was less than 10 minutes. Maybe even less than 5... we're not sure. Poor Sammi didn't know what was going on, but when I started crying, she was whining and running around trying to help. After my moment of hysteria passed and Peter hung up the phone on the specialist, I just kept holding Loki for at least 30 minutes. I just didn't want to put him down, knowing I'd never hold him again. And, now he's in the refrigerator. We made space by moving out his food containers... how ironic is that?

I miss him already. I miss his little noises, running back and forth across his cage, batting his swing around, and his inane banging of his head into the ground. And of course, his singing and greetings when we'd come into the room. First thing when I walk into the house when I get home, I say "hi Loki!" and he'll chirp and sing in response. In the morning, when one of us pulls his cover off the cage, he'd always greet us with a cheerful chirp to say HI.

I know people don't think birds are much for pets, but he was my boy -- for such a huge chunk of my life. I found his name in my 7th grade history book -- "Loki: the Norse God of Fire, and a mischief maker."

Please do me a favor to honor Loki...

The next time you see a bird singing... whistle for Loki... my little mischief maker...
---

Goodnight Loki... I love you!

God of Fire, and a mischief maker

That's the description of the name Loki, as I first found it in my 7th grade history textbook. And he was my cockatiel and my confidant for 20 years... until he passed away in my hands last night. I'll post more about it someday, but for now, I just want to share his beautiful little face. I wish I could share with you the little noises and songs of his that are dancing in my head...

Loki Weisbrod Beaupre

Feb. 14, 1986 - Jan. 10, 2006

Happy New Year!

I wish you all a happy, healthy, and surprisingly wonderful year in 2006...! Boiling mudpots at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Day in the life of a dog

Peter and I are finding amusement on a daily basis watching Sammi navigate her way around in the snow. Sometimes she's so eager to get outside that she's not even careful of the slippery, icy snow on our deck. Other times, she stands in the doorway with the cold air blowing her in face, and then turns around to come back inside (this is just seconds after she's been begging and whining to go outside...). On this particular day last week, she had lots of fun roaming around in the backyard.

Sniffing and romping in the backyard

Running for home when I call her! (I love this shot...)

"Please, Mommy, can I get back inside where it's warm?"

Calming down and fluffy snow

Ok, most of the Christmas gifts we're giving have finally arrived, so I can relax now. I'm excited about the presents we got for people, so now I'm getting happy about Christmas! It really is much better to give than receive especially if you feel good about the gifts you've found for people.

We had a busy but fun weekend. Sunday we spent nearly the entire day in our cold garage with 6-7 neighbors, making Luminaries for the whole neighborhood. We ended up making about 900 of them and delivering and lighting them up and down the streets... It was a LOT of work (and over 1,600 pounds of SAND!), but they looked beautiful. It was snowing while we were placing them down... that big fluffy kind of snow that is so beautiful and peaceful...

River Run Luminaries!