Wandering through E-Space

It's October!!! HALLOWEEN!!! Here's hoping the weather holds out for my godson's first hayride tomorrow night. :) If you're in the mood for something spooky, then check out this list of Cleveland's most haunted places! (Special thanks to  http://blog.rightturn.com for the graphic! ) Happy Haunting!

Vader's Little Princess by Jeffrey Brown My rating: 4 of 5 stars I found this book on display in the graphic novels section of our library’s CPL leisure collection. Although I had basically given up reading any Star Wars alternate universe books long ago, I still have a soft spot for comics and this was just too cute to pass up. I mean seriously-the cover has Darth Vader having a tea party with a tiny Princess Leia and her stuffed Ewok. I couldn’t help but giggle. I soon found out that this is a sequel of sorts to another book, Darth Vader and Son. Although I haven’t read the first one yet, I really don’t think you need to, unless you’re really anal about it… If you are looking for a ‘what might have been’ type comic, then move on. This is by no means that-and it’s not supposed to be. It’s a humorous, fun little read. I mean, do you really think someone as big and mean as Darth Vader would take time out of his very busy day of taking over the universe to have a tea p...

So once again I've been thinking about what to do w/this blog.  I keep saying I'm going to update and post more, but I never get around to it... One thing I finally did was update my sidebar...sort of.  I got rid of a few sites that no longer update or are completely defunct (yes, there are a couple that are still listed...I'll eventually delete those. And boo! Yahoo Avatars no longer exist)  I moved a few things around (not sure why there is such a large gap between my twitter feed and my get glue stickers...)  I may eventually move more things around, but that will come later.  And even though The Peacekeeper Wars aired several years ago, I'm keeping the banner up because I love Farscape! (same goes for the Doctor Who banner announcing it's return to America on SciFi-even though SciFi is now SyFy and Doctor Who is now exclusively on BBCA, it's still history...) ;) One of the main reasons why I haven't "upgraded" my blog template is simply b...

Been a while since I posted a review, so here's one!! :-) Windhaven by Lisa Tuttle My rating: 4 of 5 stars Decided to read one of GMMR's earlier novels-and was not disappointed! Since I am terrible at writing reviews, I'll just make this simple-I enjoyed reading about Maris and the flyers, the landsmen, and the singers. Windhaven is a collection of previously published short stories following the life of Maris, the daughter of a fisherman who becomes a flyer. Because a flyer's wings are inherited, Maris must challenge this tradition, and leads the way to changing the law so that a person is given wings based on merit, rather than heritage. Of course, young Maris is quite naive and doesn't fully understand the implications of challenging and changing the status quo, and we see her face and deal with the consequences as her story goes on. For those who are only familiar with GMMR's A Song of Ice and Fire saga, this story (co-authored with Lisa Tuttle) is no...

Last night I was working on a craft project, waiting for the paint to dry when I decided I’d run outside and take a picture of the Harvest Moon.   I went out to my back porch, saw the moon and the clouds heading my way, then ran back in to collect my Pentax camera, tripod, and my telephoto lens, figuring I had enough time to get at least a couple of shots before the clouds took over.     I took off my 55mm lens and attached the telephoto lens when I realized something was really wrong: Normally when you attached a lens, you turn it about 90 degrees before it locks into place…I had already turned it about 270 and it had not locked into place…    Crap. I tried to remove the lens and my worst fears were realized: the lens had jammed.    @#$%$!!! I tried wiggling the lens, but to no avail.   The little button you press to release the lens was stuck as well-I could move it about 90 degrees and it would pop back up, but no matter ho...

Just checking in!  Honestly, I really do want to post more.  Now if I can just find the time. ;) I've got so much to talk about-a weekend trip to Minnesota, the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra, Italian Band, my adventures with my new camera, work, life in general.   The last two weekends have been really busy for me.  First there was the Feast of the Assumption, then I did a quick weekend trip to Minnesota... Yeah, I know-Ohio to Minnesota-not really 'quick weekend trip' material, but it had been so long since I had been back, anything was better than nothing! ;)   This weekend is the St. Rocco's Festival, and next weekend is our Tippit Reunion.  Hmmm...not much sleep is in my forecast! LOL.  It's a good thing I got my DWFO submission in for The Impossible Astronaut Suite.   It's not due until the 7th of September, but if I hadn't finished it before the Feast, I doubt I would have been able to contribute to this one! Well, that's about ...

OMG!!!!  A co-worker of mine told me about this blog-I haven't been following Dollar Store Crafts  for very long, but I love them!  Check out this awesome contest they are holding!!!! Craft Challenge: The $5 Challenge (sponsored by Dollar Tree) : That's right DSC readers, it's time for another challenge, with another $100 gift card prize generously provided by Dollar Tree !  This month, rather than picking a specific theme, we're doing something a little different: The Five Dollar Challenge! Start crafting now, and come back to enter on July 1st. USB Desk Lamp by Rebecca Made It Dollar store crafting is not only about creativity, it's about big ideas on a small budget.  You might be surprised at just how far $5 can get you! Take, for example, this USB desk lamp by Rebecca Made It .  Can you identify all of the dollar store parts she used? (Of course, we always encourage the use of stash items, so you don't need to count on-hand items in your ...

 Wow-due to the unprecedented interest in the Impossible Astronaut Suite, they have to limit the number of applicants to the first 600!!!  Better hurry! ;)

I know, I know-I should be posting about the Venus Transit (which was AWESOME by the way!) I would like to include pictures, so I just have to decide which ones I would like to share here. :) Until then, I would like to share with you the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra's fourth collaboration, "Dalek Suite!"  I would have to say this was the most fun to work on so far. I'm really excited about our next piece, "The Impossible Astronaut Suite". TIAS will include bits from "I Am the Doctor" (the DWFO's first collaboration). I really enjoyed "I Am the Doctor" and have often said the only thing I regret about joining the DWFO is missing out on the first piece! ;)

Happy June!  As usual, I've been pretty busy!!  But I want to try to make more of an effort to post here-as I've neglected this blog (well, all my blogs) quite a bit. Here are a couple of updates in my life. I've played around with the telephoto lens that belonged to my dad-I've been taking pictures of the moon throughout it's current cycle.  I need to learn to focus it a bit better, but it's still pretty cool.   Too bad it's been cloudy the past two nights...  Speaking of astronomical events-the transit of Venus is this Tuesday! At first, I wasn't as excited as I should be-after all, it's not going to occur again for over 100 years.  However, I didn't have any eclipse glasses or arc welder's glass, so I wouldn't be able to see it with my own eyes.  Then I went to storage and brought home a box of some of my dad's camera equipment.  As I was going through the box, I discovered a piece of no. 14 arc welder's glass!!!  Not only ...

Yes!  I'm still here!  Man, I haven't posted since January!  Yikes!  Well, alot has happened.  Sports-wise, in football the Pack went 15-1, but lost in the first round of the playoffs. (boo.)  That's ok-they did pretty well in the draft-I can't wait to see what happens in the fall!  Baseball...eh...wah.  As of this moment, we are 8-23.  Gah!  I can only hope we will get better.  I refuse to be a fair-weather fan, and will stand behind my team-WIN TWINS!!!! Hmmm...let's see, what else has been going on?  Lots of stuff-a week from Sunday I will become a godmother again!!  :)  Stormy is sooooo cute!!! He's such a sweetheart.  Perspeh and Paul are very lucky parents! My sister finally has a new house-woo!!! Also, I have a new camera!!!  I decided I'd finally get a DSLR.   It's a Pentax K2000.  An older model, entry-level DSLR, but it's in great condition-already took some fantastic pictu...

Happy Year of the Dragon! Saw this on Craft-I want to make some-they would be perfect for the mantle above my fireplace! :-D Illuminated Houses : These illuminated houses seen on Anthology Magazine are simply gorgeous! So romantic and dreamy, I must make some.

Just a quick post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!! I've got some more baking to do, so I better get back to it! *hee* Well, it looks like once again my New Years Resolution will be to post in this blog more! 0:-) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Here's a little something I contributed to over late summer/early fall. :)

I'd Walk 500 Miles! : The video from which this came from has finally been put online for public viewing! It was originally made for the cast's eyes only and was part of Russell T Davies' farewell, but here it is!! From me: I'm trying out the 'Send to' feature in Google reader. The first test was a dud, but the second was ok-trying again with the original item I was trying to send. This time there is actual content in the title and body of the post. (first time there wasn't) Despite me being upset over some of Google's changes to Reader-this might actually be an okay one. I can post an article from my reader to any of my blogs, then add my own comments on the same post. Ok, that's pretty neat. Can't add a tag, though-wonder if it's something I can edit later... This vid, in a word: AWESOME. :) UPDATE: why, yes-not only can I edit to the post to add tags, but I can edit my font as well. A bit cumbersome, but I guess it will do for now. ...

Gillan Will Welcome New Companion : Karen Gillan has said she will welcome the next Doctor Who companion “with open arms” when her time is up on the show. Speaking on G Read more ... Just trying out a feature from Google Reader-maybe this one will work...

Dance, Timelord, Dance!!!

Thanksgiving cannot get here fast enough: If you haven't seen the trailer this was parodied after, you can check out the original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trailer here . Special thanks to Den of Geek for posting this. You guys rock!

My name is Romana, and I have a pumpkin problem. :) I don't know when, or how it started, but in the past few months, I have come to realize that I have a problem. ;) I love pumpkins!! I already have the Libbys pumpkin for Thanksgiving and Christmas pies. Last weekend I went to the Country Living Fair down in Columbus with my friends Bob& Julie. Of course, this was my favorite display: (by the way, this was a really cool trip-will have to post more about this before the season is over ;)) I was the one who insisted on trying to grow pumpkins in the Garden@Case-since the garden was new this year, we didn't really know what to expect-certainly not this! At one point we had 5 pumpkins growing-unfortunately, two rotted out, and a third was picked and then tossed on the sidewalk by vandals. *arrrg* I really, really wanted the surviving pumpkin, so with the help of my coworkers, we brought this bad boy home! We weighed the pumpkin using my bathroom scale-it is about 85 pounds!!!...

Sky & Telescope illustration  Don't forget, the Perseids peak tonight!!! Some observing hints from Sky & Telescope:   "The Perseid meteors appear to stream away from the shower's "radiant" point near the border of Perseus and Cassiopeia. This is the perspective point where they would all appear to be coming from if you could see them approaching in the far distance. In fact we see them only in the last second or two as they streak into Earth's upper atmosphere, and this can happen anywhere in your sky. Under dark-sky conditions, you may see an average of one a minute around the time of the shower's peak." For more info about this year's display, check out Off Year for the Perseids