Best Gift Ever?

$249.00 + tax and shipping to bring you child's fears to life.

Time for a Book Review! Yay!

I've always been fascinated by fairy tales. Not the Disney, watered down version of fairy tales, but the original, twisted version of a story told to warn children - and sometimes adults - about the not so gentle wide, wide world.

~~Interrupting the book review for an impromptu movie review~~

If you haven't seen Enchanted, then go! It's like how a cartoon would actually be in real life. Oh my gosh. I laughed, I cried, I was grossed out about roaches in the bathtub. I mean, even Disney can't make roaches endearing.

Anyway, make sure you sit behind two four year old little girls in the theater because they will totally enhance the experience. They're still young enough to giggle unabashedly at the things the dippy (and incredibly handsome) (and quite stupid) prince says. Or sit next to Ciara and Carroll. Same experience. We had so much fun!

~~Back to Book Review~~

Well now I'm just too wore out to give the wonderful book the review it deserves. Poop.

The Book of Lost Things by John Conolly is wonderful. It's what I thought Pan's Labyrinth should have been - only better. So much better. This book revisits many of the fairy tales I only thought I knew. When you read this book, know that the Snow White part is my favorite.

Blah blah blah. Read this book. The middle is really good. (I can't think of what to say, so here's a picture)
The ending left me wanting more, but not in the annoying way that some books do. You know the book endings I'm talking about. The ones where the author carefully plans all of these wonderful twists and turns to a story, and you end up falling in love with the characters and then WHAM! The main character suddenly turns into a bagel and the story ends with no explanation at all. Yeah, this book doesn't do that. This book makes you want to foist it off on family and friends as Christmas presents.

Question of the Day

ETA: Dustin was asking for my input on a topic he was discussing earlier that day with some friends of his. He wasn't calling me sexy.

The question of the day is posed by Dustin:

Ok, if someone told you that you were "sexy" would your initial reaction be that the person thought you were physically attractive, or that your attitude was "sexy"?

My answer:

First I would think EWWWWWW! because the only person at my work that would say that is ******* and he totally gacks me out. ***shudder***

I would say sexy is physically attractive. But to me it's a package deal. When I feel sexy I tend to look sexy. And vice versa. I can't look sexy in my really long brown, corduroy skirt. I look cute and very Banana Republic, but not sexy. Even if I did the sexy hair and sexy walk, yeah, the sexy is just not going to happen.

Now a simple jeans and cute shirt - that can be pulled off as sexy or cute. Just depends on the attitude.

Hmmm. I'm going to have to change my answer after talking it all out.

I say sexy is in the attitude, not physical.

And there you have it. The veritable chicken vs. egg and which looks better in corduroy debate.

(Thanks Dustin, for the blog nibblets)

Ahhh, Kansas!

I got a reply! I got a reply!

From: Gene
To: Skye
Subject: Re: Ah - Kansas!
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2007 07:42:13 -0500

Hi Skye!

Thanks for your nice comments. Where did you manage to find the lyrics? The jingle production company calls that "Ah Kansas" that is stuck in your mind "the hook." Once you hear it it's hard to forget.

It has now been 25 years since it first went on the air in 1982! I plan to play some of the various versions on my Saturday morning radio program in the coming weeks. If you live in the Wichita area you can hear them on the air again or on the podcast. I will try and attach an mp3 file of one version to this e-mail. Please let me know if it works. Bet "the hook" will get even your Texas born husband singing along!

all the best, gene

Gene is my new bestest friend in the whole wide world. The mp3 did work and I got to sing my song with all of the words and everything. And oh, how Alan is singing along! AHHHH KAN-SAS!

I was born in Kansas, I was bred in Kansas...

I sent the following email to Gene - the man who came up with an ingenious marketing ad in the 80's to sell the ambiance of Kansas. Ahhhhhh, Kansas!

Dear Gene,

Thank you so much for creating the Ah, Kansas! ad campaign. It was brilliant. I am still singing the song 20-something years later.

I hope you can help me with a little dilemma. I am searching for the Ah, Kansas! ad song so I can let my husband hear the whole song and can't find it anywhere.

This song filters into my head and, apparently, out my mouth on a regular basis. The problem is that the song coming out of my mouth is:

Dun dun duh duh dun duh dun dun dah AHHH KAN-SAS!
(repeat this line over and over and over)

The issue now is that this same version of the song is now coming out of my TX-born husband's mouth, too. I guess I sing it a whole lot more than I thought.

I found the lyrics online, but my singing just can't do the song justice. Do you know where I can get a copy of the original ad with the lady singing the Ah - Kansas song?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Skye

I hope I hear from Gene soon.

ETA: The link to Gene's reply

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Here are some pictures of the new bushes. The landscaping is about 1/2 finished.

~~Technical issues uploading the pictures. I'll get back to them later~~~

If any of the planting crew are reading this -
BRING ME BACK MY GARDEN HOSE YOU POOP HEADS!