Inspiration Alley

Turkey Run - Daytona

I'm at the Turkey Run this weekend.  We left yesterday and arrived here at about 6:30.  From there we immediately went to dinner.  The restaurant had several Thanksgiving type offers (Turkey, Ham, Roast Duck and Lamb) but I opted for Seafood since that was what the restaurant is known for.  I had crab cakes, then seafood gumbo, and then a broiled Mahi w/crab stuffing (real crab stuffing, not the breadcrumb type).  It was sooo good.  Mmmm.

Today we're at the car show, and it is a gorgeous day.  It is in the mid-70s (maybe a little warm) and that is so much better than weather in the 30s/40s like most of the time we come.  We've brought a 1966 Buick Riviera.  The thing that is "special" about it is that it has a dual quad engine which is 2 4-barrel carbs.  Good thing the price of gas has dropped considerably since this is not gentle on the fuel consumption.  We're parked with our friends in the Pontiac Club so we're very close to everything.  Tonight we do a old car parade in the next town up.

I tried to upload some pictures but the connection speed is not too great at the track, so I'll try later from where we are staying, or when I return home.

Theme Song

Ever since watching Ally McBeal (TV show 1997-2002) and the episode where she had to find her theme song I often thing of what my theme song should be.  I can never settle on one song in paricular.  I like various genres of music from Melanie and James Taylor (folksy) to Pink.

I do have a favorite album though - it's August and Everything After by the Counting Crows.  This is the album that I listen to for every road trip.  I listened to it on the drive to Sebring, and then on the way to work for the entire next week (sort of got hooked again). I've got links to it on my facebook page.  I even lost the CD once, and went out and bought another so that I would have it for a road trip.

Am I weird ? or do others have a favorite album that then can play over and over again.

Growing up I had several faves - Jesus Christ Superstar and Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack, and then of course there was the Melanie Candles in the Rain Album.  I played those over and over and over again.  I'm surprised Mom and Dad didn't go crazy - I still know all the words to them.

Voter Turnout

Regardless of my political views this election has interested me.  I've logged a considerable amount of hours listing to POTUS08 on XM (various talk shows both republican and democrat, plus broadcasts of stump speaches and debates), watching every debate (thanks to TiVo), and doing general viewing of various websites.

I just looked to see what the voter turnout was for Miami and it was 70.05% of registered voters (and for my friends in Tampa (Hillsborough) had a turnout of 73.41%)

So then I started looking in the archives to the 2004 election. Voter turnout for Miami was 73.56% - I couldn't believe it - I thought sure we were going to set a record. 

Back in January with the Primary we had 1,083,788 registered voters, and in November we had 1,245,138 - that's an increase of 161,350 voters -

In total there was only an additional 93,000 votes cast from 2004 -2008.  So where did everbody go?  Hypothisizing now ... if all 161K voters registered because they truely wanted to vote and lets assume they did so, then what happened to the 68K people who voted in 2004 but not this year.  (yes, I know that people move or die but 68K?)

In the old days ... you had to vote on voting day but now with absentee ballots, and early voting that's open even on weekends it amazes me that people still don't care enough to cast a ballot.

OK ... that's enough - I just find numbers and trends interesting, and people even more so.

After Twilight

So, now that you've read or are reading the twilight series, and of course going to see the movie at midnight, do you plan to read her other Novel The Host: A Novel ?  It's her first adult novel since the Twilight series was actually billed as for young adults.  

It's more of a sci-fi thriller which is not my usually read, but then neither was Teenage Vampire love stories.  I think I'm going to give it a try.  I linked above to the amazon page because it has a video of Stephanie Meyer which describes the book - sounds like I would enjoy it.

Man my to be read pile is ever increasing, but with the Thanksgiving car show later this month I should be able to knock out a quite a bit.  All that's left for me to do now is to pick which ones I want to read.  I think I'll bring 3 or 4 with me and hey ... if I run out I can always stop by a book store for more.

Amazon Universal Wishlist

If you have a wishlist on Amazon, you can add items from any online store.  It's a new feature they've added, and most of my family shops for me through Amazon anyway, so I'm starting to add things - like the new Making Memories Slice available from Hilltop Memories, plus some items from QVC. 

This universal wishlist is the coolest thing and really makes shopping easy.

It's easy to use, you just save a link out in your favorite links and when you are on a website for an item you like you click the link and it adds it to your wishlist - too easy.

When you go to buy (yes, I had to check it out) it take you right to the item at the online store.

Back to updating my wishlist.

Howard amd Martha Finally

I've been a Sirius subscriber since Howard Stern moved to Sirius, but when we bought the GM Car last year, it came with XM.  We didn't want to run the wiring for the Sirius receiver, and were hoping that since XM and Sirius merged they'd come up with some sort of plan to get the best of both worlds.

Well ... they did.  XM now offers a plan with the "Best of Sirius" which includes Martha Stewart and Howard Stern, and Sirius offers the "Best of XM" which gives you Oprah. (thats the edited version you get more but it's not my focus).  Yesterday, I renewed XM with the Best of option, so now I get Howard Stern and Martha Stewart again.  Worth every penny.  I also can get the stations over the internet, so I can listen while at work.

This just makes my day.  I am a happy camper.

Weekend Update

Saturday we went to the Auto Show, and I got to see the new Chevrolet Camaro that is coming out for 2010 - I also got to sit in some of my other favorite cars like the Pontiac Solstice, the Chevy HHR, and the Cadillac XLR Conv.  From there we were going to go to the diner, but the traffic was so bad (South Beach is a hopping place on Saturday night), we just ended up heading closer to home and went to Flanigans.

Sunday was uneventful, until hubby started screaming my name - apparently when he removed some bolt the car shifted and was pinching his finger in between something.  I flew out of the house and had to release the jack - his finger was flat, but very little blood.  I sat him down, gave him some orange juice, made sure he had sensation in the finger, blood flow, and range of motion (all of which he had), then promptly chastised him for not having his cell phone within reach (one of my safety rules).  If I had been at the back of the house I would not have heard him, (although half the neighborhood would have).  Anyway ... he is fine, his finger is black and blue and he'll lose the nail but I have stopped shaking.  As I was heading out to the carport, I didn't know what I'd find, so I was relieved that it was a pinched finger and not a severed limb.

All is well, and I'm looking forward to a great week.  I love this time of year, with the cooler weather (we're having a cold snap and woke up to temps in the upper 50s), and holidays right around the corner.

Who's going to see THE movie

I'll be going - hopefully opening night, but if not Saturday for sure.

Is it Good Luck

if a bird poops on your head ?

I'm a glass half full kindof girl, so I'm thinking yes (if you have an alternate point of view, this is one of those times I don't really want to hear it).

I'm also a take a shower at night (nice and warm and relaxing at the end of the day) kindof girl not a shower in the morning (and shock the system awake) kindof girl.  So yesterday, I needed the shock yourself awake, so I showered before work.  Then when I got to work - all sparkling fresh with squeaky clean hair, right on the way in the door a bird pooped on my head. 

Grossed me right out, and pissed me right off.  So after digging out a tissue from my purse and cleaning up as much as possible (I didn't want to walk in the door a wreck already), and then heading to the bathroom for more damage control, then having a friend check to make sure nothing was left behind (it's hard to see the top of your head), I thought I'd try to see what the internet had to say about whether it was good luck or not.  Well guess what - I could not find any definate answer, so I'm just going to keep on thinking that it's good luck. 

It was one of our late nights, so I had to work all day and evening, and my mind kept wandering to the top of my head, and then to bird flu, and other diseases, and then to the last Amazing Race episode where they had to walk barefoot through the bird hospital, and then to counting the minutes until I could get home and wash my hair again.

What A Day ... Glad when it ended!

Last Report from the Crop4Hope

Here's my final report about the Crop4Hope and we've already set the date for next year.

This is a picture of the raffles and auctions - I think there was 83 raffle items and about 20 auction items including some original artwork from TimHoltz and autographed book from Ali Edwards

The crop room had ample space this year - such an improvement over last year.  Everyone had about 4 feet of space.  Lighting was so-so but with extra lights the hotel provided and everyone's ott lights it worked just fine.

There was shopping available - WhimSoDoodle was there, as was KnK a fantastic kit club, and Carol Cooper represented Creative Memories.  There were other vendors representing 31 Gifts, Initials, PartyLite, 2 Sisters Gourment, oh man, I can't remember them all, but you could definately knock out some of your holiday shopping.

There was a few games too and John makes a great Alex Trebek - we played a Jeopardy like game and our team lost - the prize was an icecream social but in the end we all got to enjoy.

All in all - we had a great time, we loved being with friends, taking classes, winning raffles (this is GeriAnn loving the holiday raffle basket she won), and raising money for a great cause.

A good time was had by most - well you can't please everyone ya know.  

Sad to say it's over - here's a parting shot of all of us.  In the old days we used to pose on the Grand Staircase, but we had to do it on the steps outside this year.