Peacefield

I've never watched a cricket match in person either - although I'm sure I've seen one on YouTube. Never have I ever gotten a black eye.

You're welcome, Julie! Mac my man! How goes it? You're back on the board; this pleases me! How cool that Jo was able to meet Cassandra Clare . I take it she's a fan? I plan on sometime reading more of her books. I have not yet started Bird Chronicle, but I'm planning on making it my May read so I'll let you and Weave know what I think since you guys are his biggest fans! I finished Twenties Girl and have continued on my 'fluff' journey by starting Divergent this weekend from Veronica Roth. It's OH SO good!

I caught a cold over the weekend too, Lucy! Double boo. It's slowly getting warm here, and all that remains of the snow is some dirty piles here and there and on street corners. Hopefully I'll see a Robin soon since then it'll officially feel like spring . After work today I'm heading downtown for the Mika show with my friend. I wish you were here, Noll! I've never seen him live before but I have a feeling it'll be fun. Have a good week, everyone!

Easter dinner at our house - ham, some groovy truffle-butter mashed potatoes and balsamic brussells sprouts. For dessert it's chocolate cupcakes and Bird's custard! My 1/8th British-ness is very pleased .

It's too bad they can't give you the money you're owed now, Talisman. Did the management office say what was the reason for the discrepancy? It's getting pretty spring-like here, and will be in the 40's this week! Is it warming up across the pond? Hopefully all of this ugly, dirty snow will disappear quickly. Monday is the official first day of baseball season and since we have an outdoor stadium, I think warm temps would be best! I woke up on Tuesday with awful neck pain, but I'm hanging in there. I saw the doc yesterday and she gave me a muscle relaxant (sp?) since she thinks I must've pulled a muscle somehow. On Sunday I smacked my head on the kitchen counter so this may be a side effect. What a klutz! I hope everyone has a great week ahead and weekend too!

Hey there and welcome to BCF, Miss Mabel! Glad to have you

First day of spring, my eye! We're still in the single digits here and have a good amount of snow and ice outside, GRRR. Baseball season starts on 1st April and how are they supposed to play if there's snow falling?! Sorry, this time of year I just get weather-cranky. In other news, it's supposed to warm up a bit at the weekend, so thank goodness for that .

Scarlett who?

We're watching The Avengers again right now. So many good looking guys on the screen at once and I'm swooning!

Julie: I highly recommend Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Lady and the Unicorn if you want to read more Chevalier . I've heard about The Last Runaway and have added it to my wish list too! Wow, Frankie, Franco got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame already? Cool! He is young, so that's neat. We only have one walk of fame and it's in Hollywood, CA, running down Hollywood Blvd. It's also where the Grauman's Chinese Theatre is and all the hand and foot prints of celebrities in the cement . It's a fun place to visit! Frankie, did you read Shopaholic and Baby? That's one Kinsella I've not read aside from the one I'm reading now, which I'm thoroughly enjoying, btw.

Like other cultural pursuits such as film, music and art, I really just view book taste as subjective. I read what I read because I want to and I know that what I like is important to me, not anyone else, just like what someone else reads doesn't affect me. I'm open to reading any kind of genre and love to get recommendations from people. It has widened my tastes and if I see someone reading an author I've not heard of or haven't read anything by, I'm curious and will ask. Some of the lack of readership might be due to the current economy as well, at least here in the US. Some people don't have extra money for books or are working 2 and 3 jobs so don't have time to read at all. It puzzles me though why people don't utilize the library as often, since books there are free. When I was working 2 jobs last year I know I hardly had time for anything, plus I have other interests that take my attention too so unfortunately reading suffered. I agree with what Willoyd said about judgements against people - that to me is so sad and I can't understand it at all. Yes I read the Twilight books and liked them, not for the writing but for the story. People probably judge me all the time for that. My favorite book is The Count of Monte Cristo - can it be possible that a fan of Dumas can also be a Twilight reader? Hell yes! It's my choice .

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier Synopsis via Powell's Books: On the windswept, fossil-strewn beaches of the English coast, poor and uneducated Mary Anning learns that she has a unique gift: "the eye" to spot fossils no one else can see. When she uncovers an unusual fossilized skeleton in the cliffs near her home, she sets the religious community on edge, the townspeople to gossip, and the scientific world alight. After enduring bitter cold, thunderstorms, and landslips, her challenges only grow when she falls in love with an impossible man. Mary soon finds an unlikely champion in prickly Elizabeth Philpot, a middle-class spinster who shares her passion for scouring the beaches. Their relationship strikes a delicate balance between fierce loyalty, mutual appreciation, and barely suppressed envy, but ultimately turns out to be their greatest asset. My thoughts: What I liked most about this book was the unique and layered friendship between Mary and Elizabeth, and that I was able to witness it change and grow. Mary took on the role of daughter, friend, fellow fossil-hunter, teacher and rival in love. Elizabeth also became Mary's teacher and champion, and together they made great discoveries and challenged authorities of the church and other disbelievers. Chevalier has a wonderful way of painting the perfect picture, both of the landscape and the extraordinary fossils that Mary and Elizabeth were able to uncover on the beaches of Lyme-Regis. I don't know a lot about pre-historic dinosaurs, but I definitely widened my scope of knowledge by the time I finished the book. Before I read it I had no idea that Mary Anning existed and the role she played in making such great discoveries. Very highly recommended, you guys!

Mr. Hobbs!! That's right! Thanks, Ruth Yeah I love a lot of old movies too . I watched The Master last night and oh, man. there's a movie I would never watch again. It's funny because I normally love PT Anderson's films, but honestly, this one went no where and made absolutely no sense to me. Loved Phoenix's acting, however it didn't seem like much of a stretch for Hoffman. For the life of me I could not grasp and hang onto the point of the movie, which bothers me. I thought I might find any positive reviews of it and see if someone else saw something in it that I didn't. For now though I'll consider it a wasted evening .

Nope, she hasn't had it. Her eye doc can't figure it out because he thinks she eventually will need the surgery, but for now she has miracle eyes I guess! I only hope that happens to me. I got glasses in the 6th grade and haven't looked back.

This morning I bought the new Biffy Clyro album 'Opposites,' YEAH!! I think it's been out in the UK for a couple months but it came out in the US today . Love these guys!

Lovely, Chesil!! Ella is wonderful, I agree. I'm listening to a lot of White Rabbits again, and right now have on 'I Had it Coming.'

That happens a lot to me too, Bree, I love an actor's performance yet don't feel the same about the actual film. I watched an oldie over the weekend, which was Mr. Boggs Takes a Vacation (I think that was the name of it) with Jimmy Stewart and Maureen O'Hara. Pretty funny little film!

Would you call freezing rain 'icing?' What you described makes me think of that. We've not seen the sun here since Friday and it's been rainy and cloudy since then. I'll take it though because at least it's not cold enough to snow! It has been and will be in the high 30s, which is nice for a change. Spring is getting closer and closer!!

My mom's in her late 70's, Pontalba, and she's had 20/20 for a few years now. This is after having to get glasses as a child and then moving into bi-focals and tri-focals! Now she sees perfectly and only needs cheaters to read. Crazy how some things can actually improve with time - usually it's the other way around! I had a busy weekend of shopping and getting little things done at home. My good friend's mom was in town so we went out to eat on Saturday night. I hope everyone has a good week ahead of them!

Sounds like a lovely little trip you took, Pontalba! And wouldn't you know it, I crossed the Mississippi yesterday as well AND had a white russian! Small world! I went to the Muse concert last night and oh, man, was it fun. They put on such a good show - even better than the last time I saw them I think! Lights, lasers, steam, the whole thing . Needless to say I'm tired this morning but it was worth it. I'm sorry you're not feeling the best, Noll! 10 days off though is excellent and I hope today goes by quickly for you!

I don't think I've posted photos of my pets in awhile, so I thought I would amend that. Here is Emma, my mom's Beagle. She's almost 5 and guarding our front walk, obviously Here is Sascha, my 7 year old grey Tabby. She loves her nap time!

I love her books too, Athena! She writes hilariously and I always love her female characters

Well, I almost made my February quota of 1 book read a month I finished Remarkable Creatures on Sunday morning. It was a lovely little read but it left me wanting to read something fast paced and/or funny. I don't think this was on my intial TBR list for the year, but last night I started Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella. It felt like it was the perfect next book for me once I started reading it so here we go!

Thanks for that Calvin cartoon, Janet! Gave me a good laugh this morning Woo-hoo, yay Noll!! Big huge congrats to you and best of luck on your next 9 months! That is great news. I need to get myself to the eye doc too one of these days. My vision insurance through work is pretty good so I receive a set dollar amount every year for either contacts or glasses. I'm on my last pair of contacts so I guess I know what I need! Between yesterday and last night we had about a foot of snow fall here in the frozen northern plains (aka 30+ cm). Good times! Hopefully it'll get warm soon and melt all of it away because seriously, I want to go back to complaining about the heat!

I saw Skyfall too! For the first time I really liked it, although I am a bit exhausted after watching