Chezjlb's Blog

Grimming it

chezjlb — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:37:30 +0000

On paper the NBC television series, Grimm, just doesn’t work. A combination detective/thriller show based on the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm? But toss in some creative writing, talented cast, and loveable characters, and it clicks. Plus it’s filmed on location in Portland, Ore., my current home town. I admit that last fact may slightly influence my favorable response to the show, but the northwest scenery – rainy, sunny, great architectural and outdoor details – definitely adds to the show’s appeal. In addition, the show brings jobs and revenue to the state. It is show business. Check your local listings for when the show airs in your area. For me, it’s on NBC on Friday night at 9:00 p.m. (PST). If you have a cable service that allows you to see previously aired shows of Grimm, do it. View them. Especially the first couple of episodes. I missed them when originally aired so was a little lost trying to place characters and plot. Without giving too much away, I’ll just say that the Brothers Grimm were the ones able to see their fairy tale visions. You’ll have to watch Grimm to figure out the rest! Grimm on!

Could blame the cat

chezjlb — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:14:29 +0000

Yesterday I got home from work a little early so decided to finish an article to submit to a newspaper in my original home town of Fort Wayne, Ind. I had a pretty good draft of about 530 words, but wanted to edit it down closer to 500 words. The revisions had been swirling around in my head on the bus so the edits were relatively quick. Per my usual practice not to completely delete a draft, I saved the polished piece with a similar, but different, file name. It looked great – double-space, Times New Roman, 12 point, word count stated, and a brief writer bio – and read smoother.

So there I am semi-reclining in bed with laptop propped on stomach, putting the finishing touches on a submission e-mail and getting ready to attach the article and a current picture. Enter Christopher Robeson, the three-leg wonder cat. To him, getting home early means more quality time with his human, even if it means crawling over human and resting on human’s laptop. Usually I welcome The Christopher, but I really wanted to send this piece out so I pushed him aside, quickly attached a couple of files to the e-mail, hit the “send” button, and began apologizing to The Christopher for lifting him off the laptop.

Then it hit me: I had sent the draft article, not the edited version. So I sent a “REVISED” submission to the newspaper, including an apology for any confusion. I can only imagine what the newspaper is thinking – what kind of sloppy writer is this? Needless to say, I expect a rejection.

Lesson learned: always, always, always check the attachments before sending your writing to an editor or publisher. And accept responsibility for your mistakes. This blunder was all me, not the cat.

Baby, it’s cold outside!

chezjlb — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:59:29 +0000

But no snow yet here in Portland, Ore., and, thankfully, no ice either. A perfect day to read, compute, do laundry, and maybe even — gasp — cook! Even the cat is looking at me strange because he knows I’m not much of a cook. Cooking is kind of like cleaning: when the moment hits roll with it! Everyone stay warm out there. And if it’s snowing or icing where you are please be careful.

What about those Oregon Ducks?!

chezjlb — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:16:09 +0000

Yep, they beat UCLA on Friday night! And, no, cousin and Baby-Baby Brother, I’m not talking about the ducks one hunts! Go, Ducks!

Black Friday shopping

chezjlb — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:48:29 +0000

I don’t get it. Never have and probably never will. Why anyone would camp out overnight in a tent and sleeping bag just to buy a $200 flat screen television is beyond me. Personally, I prefer a nice comfortable bed in a warm house with a cat curled up around me. Or maybe I’m rebelling against so many annoying television commercials and newspaper ads touting sales. I swear if I see that Target commercial with the woman in her red track suit and pearls one more time I’ll scream. And I used to like pearls.

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

chezjlb — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:04:12 +0000

To all those celebrating Thanksgiving today: enjoy and be safe. To all those who celebrated Thanksgiving last month (like you Canadians, eh?): a belated Happy Thanksgiving and a Happy Thursday. Enjoy and be safe.

Sun and hon

chezjlb — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:44:31 +0000

That’s “hon” as in honey. It includes part of what made today pretty darn good. You know there’s a fine day in store when you look out the window in the morning and see blue sky and sun. In Indiana. In November. That’s right. After a miserable day of rain, the goddesses blessed northeast Indiana with a fantastic day of warmth and sunshine. I went for a walk with my Cousin-In-Law and didn’t even need a jacket. With Cousin-In-Law leading the way, I walked up and down Snake Hill, saw a bear carved out of a tree stump, and became acquainted with a possible bi-polar dog (not my description by the way!). Then on my way back to Mom’s house I stopped to fill the car up with gas and the attendant insisted on calling me “hon.” Earlier in life I would have found it offensive, but at this stage I just appreciate it. Who cares that he probably calls every woman “hon?” He said it with such natural ease I decided it was just who he was. It was nice.

The coupon rush

chezjlb — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:36:24 +0000

I experienced it. Yesterday. For the first time ever. The rush that extreme couponers must feel as they watch their grand total go down on the register screen. It happened when buying six packages of brown and serve dinner rolls, my assigned contribution to the annual family Thanksgiving meal on Thursday. Without the store’s shopping card the rolls were $2.29 each. With the store’s shopping club they were only $1.00 each! My original grand total was about $23.00, for rolls and other assorted items. After the discounts my grand total was about $12.00. I felt great! That’s about half of the original, marked price. Now I know how those extreme couponers must feel! But don’t expect me to become one of them. I don’t have the time or the storage space to hoard hundreds of rolls of paper towels. If I did have the time and storage space? Never say never.

2.5 hours

chezjlb — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 21:40:00 +0000

The amount of time I extended my weekend by when leaving the office 2.5 hours early on Friday. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s just what I needed. The last few weekends have come and gone so fast I felt there was no relaxing time. Before I knew it, the alarm clock was buzzing at 5:00 a.m. on Monday morning. So what did I do with an extra 2.5 hours? I picked up a Zipcar, ran a few shopping errands, and got home in time to run a load of laundry. Not exactly the most exciting life, but it helped take the pressure off of getting everything done on Saturday. There was some actual free time on Saturday to visit a thrift shop and go food marketing. I didn’t feel quite as rushed and knowing that another day off was still in the near future, made me feel a little more unwound. So what that it’s Sunday afternoon and there’s still one load of laundry to do? The chicken is marinating in the fridge and I’m blogging. How’s that for multi-tasking?!

And the answer to yesterday’s question is …

chezjlb — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 02:29:11 +0000

The Siuslaw Pioneer Museum in Florence, Ore., USA! I spent a few days last month exploring the central Oregon coast and happened upon the museum as I rambled through town. If anyone knew the answer, congratulations! You won bragging rights! Click here to learn more about the museum.