The Devil Wears Prada

I'm trying to decide if I liked this movie or not. I don't think I will give you a blow by blow account of this movie. I'm sure you could find any number of plot summaries. Some random thoughts about the movie: it seems that the "villian" was almost too stereotypical. Meryl Streep carries it off well as ice queen. But she is a fantastic actress and I usually like movies she is in. She plays a "difficult"--understatement boss. My thinking, there's no excuse for rudeness. And the character she portrays is just that. Rude. Goes to show that social status has no relationship to bad behaviour. And heaven knows there can be male bosses just as harsh, tyrannical, demanding and snarly. Many of us have worked for one. I think the salon.com review by Stephanie Zacharek pretty well covers it. I'd rate it about a ***.

Nana Turns 80

Carolyn and Marilou

I'm putting together a slideshow for my mother's 80th birthday. This is a picture of my mother at about 4 years old with her sister. My mother is the one on the right with the big bow.

Culinary Teas in Syracuse IN

I spent a few days in Northern Indiana visiting with some friends recently and happened onto the most wonderful tea shop. They have over 100 kinds of teas and willingly let me choose any kind of tea, brewed and iced on the spot. Now I don't think they'll ship iced tea, but they do have a website with all their teas for sale. I bought Queen Mary Tea, Windsor Castle Tea, St. Paul's London Breakfast Tea, and Buckingham Palace Tea. They are all basic black teas, and I'm sure will make great iced tea. Even the names elicit pleasant memories of England. Imagine my excitement when I see they have a blog: http://culinaryteas.blogspot.com/

Assassination Vacation (this is a book title--not literally my vacation)

What am I reading these days? Well, I bought this book last night and am almost finished. The author, Sarah Vowell (voice of Violet in The Incredibles) is funny in a biting sort of way. She wanted to know more about presidential assassins (although she doesn't say why she didn't touch Lee Harvey Oswald). Anyway she investigates the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley in a fresh and enlightening way. I give this book **** . Since I got the cover image from Amazon, I guess you should buy it from them.

The Readster Finds A Pub in England

Two snaps of The Readster.
The White Horse is somewhere near Stonehenge. The other shot is on the steps of St. Paul's.

Camilla and Charles Didn't Invite Us To Tea...Phil and Liz Were At Ascot We Heard

I like the view and the gardens at Windsor Castle This reminds me of my high school marching band uniforms. The Royal Apartments where the Queen lives are in the background, or so they say.

Here's Baaaath

Three views I liked the street scene a lot as it reminds me of Jane Austen. We took the typical tour of the Roman Baths, but the guide went pretty fast and kind of ran us through. I guess he was in a hurry to get home. It was interesting but too much to absorb.

Bath

This was an amazing mosiac that I really liked alot in the Roman Baths in Bath.

Stonehenge: pi= 3.14

I'm tempted to say if you've seen one rock you've seen them all. But I don't think so. These were enormous and shrouded with mystery. We saw some Druids too.

England -- my pictures look like typical touristy pictures that everyone else takes

1. 
   Left: Henry VIII's armor. I think he was well protected. Especially important parts of his anatomy. Right: Yeoman guard tour. Bottom Left: B/B gardens . Bottom Right: Westminster Abbey

Hiking in the Malvern Hills near Worcester where we were staying part of the time. This is a view of Wales from the top of the Malvern Hills where Lewis and Tolkein used to walk.