Glimpses through the blog
http://blog.chattycraftycook.com
Glimpses through the blog

Raw and Finished

    This week Tink has challenged us to represent the words raw and finished.

    This comedy special immediately sprang to mind as being very aptly named:

         

         When it comes to raw, nothing quite beats these on a hot summer day:

         

    And fresh limeade and mangoes also make a nice raw snack:

         

         Here's a picture of some Mexican gray squash Chatty has finished steam-frying up for dinner:

         

    Now all she has to do is prepare the rest of these raw items, and her stir-fry will be ready.

         

    Not too long ago, Chatty was preparing more vegetables for a barbecue with The Wiz, Steeler Guy and Steeler Girl. Chatty had found a rare (to her, at least) "double" squash. She was fascinated by the shape, and by the time the neighbors arrived, she was just SURE that this squash was photogenic. Unfortunately, she had already cut it into three slices. However, happily for Chatty, Steeler Girl also saw the possibilities, and we started giggling. First, we designed an outfit for our squash girl:

         

    She was already pretty cute, but we decided she needed some long, (corn)silky hair, and a bit more...definition of her...main attribute...

         

    We decided she also needed a romantic tattoo, and some admirers:

         

    Chatty thinks you will agree that squash-girl positively exuded raw charm and sensuality...

    But by now we were hungry, so we undressed her. Things really heated up when we tossed her on the fire...

         

    Because as everyone knows, grills just wanna have fun - so she was pretty much finished...

    Sorry about that - couldn't resist.

    Turning away from food - difficult though it is for Chatty to do - how about this as an example of raw? (The politically incorrect implications are just a bonus...)

         

    And speaking of raw recruits, here's a picture of The Wiz, proudly posing with his unit before they headed out on their first "cruise" of Vietnam:

         

    Chatty went to see a production of "The Secret Garden" the other afternoon (more about that in another post), and managed to snap a picture of the big finish, when the cast took their bows:
    
         

    And the other night, she finished this book (a candidate ripe for  inclusion at The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks  if ever Chatty saw one):

         

    Finally, because Chatty is nothing if not lazy, here's an example of some raw wood she really SHOULD finish - and right next to it, an example of what the finished wood should look like - two words for the price of one, if you will:

         

    Chatty is now - wait for it - FINISHED with this week's word challenge!

         

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Two new necklaces

    For those of you who have been kind enough to express interest, here are Chatty's two latest creations.

    The first is a malachite cabochon. The necklace is made up of smaller malachite beads, glass beads, and two-tone peyote bead "beads":

           

    The whole necklace vibrates differently when you change the color around it: as an example, here it is with a red background:

         

    This next cabochon is labradorite. The necklace is a triple-bead strand with oval labradorite accent stones. It has wonderful, subtle iridescent qualities and changes not so much with the color of the background, but with changing light:

         

         

         

    OK, that's it for the moment.

    Currently in the works - a gorgeous tiger's eye. Stay tuned...
    

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Chatty buys a cookbook, but wonders what the world is coming to...

    Chatty had an interesting experience the other day. She doesn’t know whether to be glad or sad. It seems that she is both.

    The Wiz was on the phone, when a young guy came to the door. He told The Wiz that he was working his way through college, and was selling a cookbook.

    Naturally, The Wiz turned him over to Chatty. Chatty was in her usual Arizona summer attire – a bathing suit under a sundress under an apron. As it turns out, the apron was particularly appropriate.

    Chatty stood at the open door, talking to the young man with only half of her consciousness – the other half being taken up by the fact that she was conversing at an OPEN door, in 110 degree heat, and was losing sweet air-conditioning by the second.

    However, Chatty listened to the young man, who was nervous, young, and very sweet.

    He had a cookbook to sell (among other things, as it turned out), and Chatty felt it only fair to inform him that it would have to be a special cookbook, because she had plenty already, and that her husband was a carnivore, and she was mostly vegetarian.

    The young man’s eyes lit up when Chatty said “vegetarian”.

    He said: “Ma’am, this is a VEGETARIAN cookbook!”

    Chatty still reels whenever someone refers to her as "Ma'am", but she recovered quickly, and was now interested.

    Better yet, he went on to explain:

    “This is a vegetarian cookbook for meals in 30 minutes or less!”

    OK, Chatty was now hooked.

    You see, Chatty often has to make TWO meals for TWO people (what with The Wiz being a committed carnivore and she a semi-committed vegetarian, and all). So, although Chatty loves to cook – being able to cook at least one of those meals in 30 minutes or less would be a very good thing.  She’s just sayin’…

    So, Chatty told the young man that she was interested, but that either he would have to step inside, or she would have to step outside, because an open door during negotiations was not an option.

    Air-conditioned comfort versus 110 degree heat. Chatty didn’t think there would be a problem with the choice there.

    The young man agreed, but said he’d have to call his supervisor first.

    OK.

    He pulled out a walkie-talkie and – Chatty swears – intoned into it:

    “This is ****.  I’m moving inside house number ****.”

    Crackle crackle “Message received, ****.”

    Chatty was bemused, but… whatever floats your boat.

    As he stepped in and Chatty started to close the door, he cried:

    “Oh! Wait! I have to leave my bag outside the door, so my supervisor will know he’s found the correct house!”

    At this point, Chatty suggested that he might prefer to pitch his spiel outside.

    He disagreed heartily, saying that air-conditioning would be a “blessing”.

    So, inside he comes, leaving his bag outside.

    Chatty is looking at the cookbook when he asks:

    “Are you a Christian?”

    Chatty is a bit non-plussed, because what does that have to do with buying a cookbook?

    But she rallies, and says:

    “Why do you ask?”

    The young man says:

    “Oh, because I have other excellent books if you would be interested.” It's obvious he really wants to show her some "other" books.

    Chatty decides to nip this in the bud, and replies:

    “I prefer to do my own reading when it comes to spiritual matters.”

    The young man, to his credit, immediately replies:

    “Of course.”

    Chatty has by now realized what denomination has come knocking on her door promoting a vegetarian cookbook, and her guess is confirmed when she asks the young man what college or higher institute of learning he is working his way through. He tells her, and Chatty thinks that’s fine. She applauds young people who work to put themselves through school – any school.

    In short, because he has been polite, has not been pushy, and has an excellent cookbook, she decides to buy it - because she understands that when it comes to paying for one’s education, every little bit helps.

    Chatty gets her money out, the young man starts to write a receipt, and there’s a knock on the door.

    It’s the supervisor, making sure that all is OK.

    The young man assures him that all is indeed spiffing (Chatty’s word, not his – Chatty is much influenced by P.G. Wodehouse and the whole Bertie and Jeeves milieu) and the supervisor brightly asks if Chatty has been offered the “bonuses”.

    The young man quickly informs the supervisor that Chatty prefers to do her own reading on inspirational topics.
    
    The supervisor smiles, nods, and just hands Chatty a nicely bound pamphlet with an encouraging title.

    Kudos to both young men for backing off!

    Chatty now has a wonderful cookbook for vegetarian meals in 30 minutes or less, and she is pleased about that.

    The thing she is possibly sad about is the security measures these young people feel they must take, even in Chatty’s quiet neighborhood.

    She can only believe that these measures are in force because some young people in similar circumstances have had problems that now necessitate:

    1. A walkie-talkie to inform one’s supervisor that one has been invited into a house.
    2. Leaving one’s bag outside to identify the house one has entered.
    3. A supervisor showing up within 5 minutes to check on one’s safety.

    On the one hand, Chatty applauds the foresight, planning and care for safety on the part of the organization.

    On the other hand, it just makes her sad that young people working their way through school even have to THINK about things like that.





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Front and Back

    This week, to play the Weekly Word Challenge Tink wants us to illustrate the words "front" and "back". Well, there are front yards and back yards, front doors and back doors, front rows and back rows...what else?

    How about:

  

    A cold front moving in from the west.

    This reminds Chatty of George Carlin, and his "Hippy Dippy Weather Man" with the hippy dippy weather, man. Remember? If there's a rain storm moving in from the north, and a dust storm moving in from the south, by tomorrow we should have...mud. If the cold front moves in from the west, we'll get...mud flurries. Forecast for tonight: Dark. Getting lighter toward morning...

    He will be greatly missed.

    Moving along:    

   

    The Australian Outback.

    

    Toot on her back...which would make this her front?

    

    And this is definitely Toot's back.

    

    A map of the Eastern Front, circa 1916.

   

    Baby-back ribs.

    

  
    And finally:

    

    ...two of the horses Chatty met this past weekend - one facing front and, ummmm... the back of a young Clydesdale.


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Chaos and Mystery

    Tink  has supplied the words "chaos" and "mystery" for us to ponder for this Weekly Word Challenge.

    Chatty knows all about chaos – she only has to watch the puppies fossicking madly about under The Wiz’s feet - and coming close to tripping him - every time he opens a can of tuna (or anything else, for that matter). In fact, just the movement of the refrigerator door opening can awaken soundly sleeping puppies and thereby create chaos:

    

    Fluffy, on the other hand, waits until the annoying dogs have followed The Wiz into the eating area, then polices the area for crumbs:

    

    Finding nothing to her liking, she heads off in disgust:

    

    However, according to Wikipedia, “the butterfly effect is a phrase that encapsulates the more technical notion of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory”. Do you see where Chatty is going here? If, as explained by Lorenz, a butterfly's wings can result in a tornado occurring or NOT occurring, it's no wonder that when a refrigerator door opening awakens sleeping puppies it can lead to chaos, at least in theory...

    Chatty is not scientific at all, but she loves this graph of the Butterfly Effect:

    

    Chatty likes the idea of butterflies causing chaos…or, alternatively, of being the method by which chaos is at least partially explained - because Chatty loves her butterflies!

    

    Chatty also loves mysteries.

    She recently sold
several boxes of mysteries to a friend who is starting a book-nook in a shop, and only saved those few (Chatty uses the word loosely) she knew she would read again and again – favorites written by Ellery Queen, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L. Sayers, Rex Stout, Del Shannon, Robert van Gulik, S. S. van Dine, JosephineTey, and of course, A. Conan Doyle.

    Here’s a bit of Chatty’s personal lending library:

    

    Please note, these shelves are double-stacked!

    Chatty also loves real-life mysteries. Three of her favorite unsolved ones are the murder of William Desmond Taylor (in the 1920’s): the Thelma Todd situation (in the 1930’s); and the murder of Elizabeth Short (in the 1940’s).

    Chatty’s favorite silent film star of all time, Mabel Normand, figured prominently in the Taylor case, and her career was almost ruined as a result -  because although she had nothing to do with the crime, she was unfortunately probably the last person to see Taylor alive - except for his killer.

              

    The case of Thelma Todd is also unsolved to this day - was it murder by mobsters? Was it suicide? Was it an accident?
   

         

    Here's a picture taken outside her notorious nightclub on Pacific Coast Highway between Santa Monica and Malibu, CA. Her body was discovered in a garage high on the cliff above:

    

    And, of course, the unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short, better known as The Black Dahlia, remains one of Hollywood’s most enduring mysteries:

    

    

    All three cases make absorbing reading – especially if you are into old-time Hollywood scandals, as Chatty is.

    Check out the links provided – but be warned, this is fascinating stuff - and once you start, you may read into the wee hours!

    At which point you might find yourself feeling a bit peckish, and go to open the fridge. If you have animals anything like Chatty’s, chaos may result - and we will have come full circle for this Weekly Word Challenge.

UPDATE:  Thanks to Pat for reminding Chatty in a comment about her friend Scott Michaels and his WONDERFUL tour of Hollywood called "Dearly Departed - A Tragical History Tour". This tour should NOT be missed if ever you are in Hollywood. It concentrates on the lives and deaths of the famous, and Scott is a witty and incredibly knowledgeable host. Until you can make it out to Hollywood (and if you like mysteries and movie stars), have some fun at his amazing website, where mysterious deaths abound. One of these days, Chatty will do an entire blog about Scott, but for the moment, go to www.findadeath.com and prepare to be fascinated for hours!


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Esther Williams - with paws!

     Little Miss Toot has learned to swim.

    Cleo HATES the water, but Toot takes a much broader view of the whole idea...

         
   
    Once The Wiz let her go...

         

    she was off and swimming - a fearless, furry, four-legged Esther Williams!

         

    She headed straight for the steps, just like she'd been taught...

         

    And quick as a wink (so fast Chatty couldn't catch it with her camera), she climbed
out all by herself.

         

    The Wiz gave her a hand with drying off...

         

    Then she found another towel and finished the job herself.

         

    Once she was all dry, it was time for a nap.  Even fearless athletes need their rest.

                                                           The End. 
   
              

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Time again for the Weekly Word Challenge

    This Weekly Word Challenge had Chatty scrambling a bit, because - as usual - Tink came up with very interesting words. This week, they are "Peek-a-boo" and "Dirty".

    Hmmmmmm.

    Does anyone besides Chatty remember the advertising campaign Picabo Street did for Chapstick?

    

    She may spell her name differently, but it’s definitely pronounced “Peek-a-boo”! (Chatty thanks the The Wiz for donating his Chapstick long enough for her to photograph it for this mini-collage…)

    Now, here’s a more traditional representation of the word - once again, thanks to The Wiz…

    

             

    And really, nothing spells dirty quite like…

         

  Yeah, yeah - Chatty knows what you're thinking - MANY things spell "dirty" better than the above. But Chatty's is a "g-rated" blog, so this is all you're getting. At least there is spelling involved!
   

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Zen du jour

    Here is a picture of a puppy in a bed (or bucket, as we call it chez Chatty). The bucket is plenty big enough for the puppy (even though technically it is a cat bed).

         


    But put another puppy in it, and...
    
    Is the puppy too big? Or is the bucket too small?


         

    

    

    Please note that directly behind Toot is her larger, deeper, more size-appropriate bucket...but she prefers to stuff herself into her (much) smaller sister Cleo's for a little mid-day nap.

    Cleo, by the way, is ensconced on the love seat four feet away, atop a comfy chenille pillow - because, really - who needs a doggie bucket on the floor when you can have a whole people couch?

    

    It's a puzzlement.
    

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Heavy and Light

    This week, for our Weekly Word ChallengeTink wants examples of “heavy” and “light”.

    Chatty was at Trader Joe’s yesterday and thought this was appropriate (not to mention tempting):

    

  These tomes are fascinating, but heavy subject matter:

    

    So with summer coming on, Chatty has plans for lots of light reading, too:

    
   

    Here’s a bit of a puzzle:

                             
  
    Finally, Chatty would like to thank The Wiz and Cleo for stepping in (and on) to illustrate comparative heavy and light…

    



         

    Well, that's all Chatty came up with!

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The Red Jaspar Necklace

    Here, as previously discussed, is the completed red jaspar, onyx, silver, black and red glass necklace with red peyote beads:

   

    

    Chatty is quite pleased with the finished product!


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