let's have funia!

Don't count me among those on the razor's edge of internets technology.  I test my skills to the max every time I post a photo on this blog.

I want to tell you about a freaky FUN website.  It's called PhotoFunia.  I discovered it on my cousin's Facebook page! (Thanks, Lori)  It's probably been around FOR-EV-ER and most of you have been using it a looooonnnnngggg time and I'm the last one to discover such a great, interactive website.  Oh...and hey....have you guys heard about MySpace??

Anyhoo....PhotoFunia is E-Z to use.

You just look at their effects page.

Choose an effect and upload one of your favorite photos.

And you're done.(mr bikey, mr bikey...hey...look)

Makes your pics look all urbane and cool.

Like Andy Warhol.

Like cutting-edge, 4-story high prairie dogs.(with nipples!)

Some of your photos can even look sexy, eh?

As a memorial, I used the rare bird photo for this one.

If you want to read the tear-evoking story of the dastardly fate of the rare bird, you can at

http://onachickenwingandaprayer.blogspot.com/2010/06/mountain-mysteries.html

Once you recompose yourself......have a funia day.  Photo-y love to all.

halloween wrap-up

Sunday night Halloween carnival at our church.  The kiddos bounced on those big blow-up thingys, splattered paint in spin art, gorged themselves on carnival food and topped it all off with a 'trunk or treat' in the church parking lot.

The Texan and I helped out with the 'trunk or treat'.  The wiener donned her orange and black jester's collar and she permitted the little ones to stroke her velvet fur.  She feigned friendliness and interest mostly in those adolescents reeking of hot dogs and nachos.

I wore an Orphan Annie costume.  And for that extra-special touch of zaniness, I applied too much rouge.  Classic.

 
I had a cool shark costume planned for the Texan....but he was too large to wear it.  No matter how we tugged and pulled together, we couldn't get the costume over his shoulders.  So.....Roxy-Doxy and I represented with our costumes while the Texan passed out candy from the back of our truck.

We enjoyed the young 'uns in their get-ups.  Did you have goons, goblins, fairies and Spiderman knocking on your front door?  Here are a few of the enthusiastic youth.

Pocahontas

Pink-crowned royalty.

Show me your muscle, Spiderman!!

The wiener inspecting Scooby-doo

Purple loveliness

Poke me..I'm done..cuteness overload!



Young at heart

 



Enchanting Bat Girl

Hope your weekend was happy and sufficiently scary.  Friendly advice:  if your hands continue shaking, you stare at the fascinating hamsters in your kid's room at 3 a.m. and you're training for a marathon, but can't run 1/4 mile.....lay off the candy before visiting your physician. 

Kit-Kat and Whopper love to all.

count dachula

And the Wiener, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;


And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,


And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;


And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor


Shall be lifted - nevermore!

rising above

Booted the Texan out of bed at 5:30 in the A.M. yesterday (Sunday) to accompany me to Palo Duro Canyon to photograph the Pirates of the Canyon Balloon Rally.  I think every man, woman, child and yayhoo owning a camera or camera phone was in the canyon.  I've never SEEN so many cameras and tripods! 

All of us camera aficionado yayhoos were there to witness the spectacular balloon colors rising in one of the most underrated scenic places on earth.  Our Palo Duro Canyon is sometimes described as a 'mini' Grand Canyon.  One of the features making it so fantastic...so unbelievable is this:  one drives and drives on many a mile of treeless, perfectly table-flat farmland when approaching the canyon.

Where is this canyon, Texan, you keep talking about?  There is nothing but sky!  Nothing.  But...then....WHAM!  You see it and you drive down, down, down into the purple spanish-skirt walls and the cottonwood lined creek.  The canyon meanders for miles and miles.  It has a rich history of explorers and famous Indian battles.  If you ever find yourself in the Texas Panhandle...you should see it.

We got there BEFORE SUNRISE. Sorry to shout, but that's motivation! Capturing the sunrise would be a challenge.

While Mr. Sun was rising in one horizon, Mr. Moon was trying to disappear before I caught him.  Not so fast, mister!

It was a stirring sight witnessing the behemoths rise from the ground.  Oh, the vividness of the colors and the loud PSSHH, PSSHH of the fire above the baskets!  Look how the tall Texan is dwarfed by these giants!

The weather was pristine, crisp....softly memorable.  Although the climate seemed perfecto-the balloons did not fly.  They stayed tethered safely to the ground with ropes.  The light wind was in the wrong direction.  The chase vehicles could not follow where the wind would take the balloons.  Didn't matter.  The oohhs and aahhs of the young 'uns was a recipe for my dumb grin.  A Sunday morning not soon forgotten.  When the time came to leave, we loaded our canines and began the ascent out of the canyon.

Our star boarder....grand-dog Rose.  She enjoyed the morning intensely.  Time for another longing look.

Of course, dear reader.....there's one more.  The wiener dog spent the cool morning in her lovely faux- shearling lined dog coat (fashioned to resemble a horse blanket) with the Roxy Doxy monogram emblazoned across her back.  She'd boldly sniff unsuspecting people's ankles, but if they acknowledged her or said a friendly hel-lo, she would scamper back to our side.  Snob dog.

I'm grateful for the day.  Hope you enjoyed our little balloon festival and you didn't mind having your ankles sniffed.

Wishing you untethered flight this week. 

marrying Trader Joe's

I adore Trader Joe's.  I want to marry him.  Seriously (sorry, Texan), I have a 'thing' for the odd guy in the loud Hawaii shirt.  Regretfully, ours is a long-distance love affair.  One of those 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' relationships

Trader Joe's does not live in my town (sniffle).  I must drive four excruciatingly long hours (Albuquerque) to steal a visit and spend quality time with him.

What do I love about Trader's?  Let me count the ways, honey........

Value.  Trader's does not charge those crazy 'health food' store prices.  The items are priced competitively with other supermarkets, except for one big difference.  The products are WAY better.  Delicious.  Fresh tasting.  Not a lot of added gunk...just good stuff.

Wine.  They carry wine from all over the globe.  Again...tasty and cheap.  I'm proudly low-class and I enthusiastically imbibe 'two-buck Chuck'.  Charles Shaw.

Nuts.  Spiced pecans addictive as meth....really!  Honey-coated peanuts.  They're never far from my side-I keep a bag in my car at all times.  Must keep my fat and blood sugar levels climbing!  These two are my faves, but for you chocolate-lovers, there's every variety of nut coated in any kind of chocolate you desire.

Soups.  You're thinking hyperbole, but the Creamy Corn and Roasted Pepper Soup is to..die...for.  I fainted just thinking about it.  Luckily, the Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup acts as smelling salts and promptly revives me.  I even turn cartwheels.

Sauces/Dressings.  The Salsa Verde is a regular on eggs, enchiladas, meats, ANYTHING at my house.  Got carried away and laid some on the wiener dog the other day...horrors!

 
All of the marinaras and other tomato sauces are top-notch.  They simply taste fresher....like homemade....than anything else I have ever laid a taste bud upon.  My favorite dressing is the Sesame Soy Ginger Vinaigrette.  Perfect for the popular Asian-themed salads.

Baked Goods and Cereals.  Not low-cal, but incredibly delicious.

Sweet Potato Fries.  Need I say more?

Since I'm shopping from out-of-town, I don't usually buy things in the perishable section of the store.  I don't know much about the meats, cheeses and such-but I'd love to try them.  I was in Santa Fe a couple of weeks ago.  Trader and I enjoyed a quickie.  I swept up and down the aisles grabbing handfuls of aforementioned foodiful dee-lights.  It was so satisfying, I slowly savored a cigarette in my vehicle afterwards.  I lovingly made a Trader Joe's cache of delights in my pantry.  Looks like I'm planning for a long, snowy, hard winter.  Be prepared...my motto.  Shhh.....I'm showing you (cuz you're special) my stash, but don't be knocking on my door this winter looking for corn soup.  I'll feign ignorance.  Behold!!

Trader's are you listening?  A hungry woman in West Texas is yearning for more of you.  Missing you.  Savoring every last condiment and nut from you.  Make an honest woman of me.  Please....can we set a date??

Savor every last morsel of your weekend.

slip of the tongue

Happy start of another week.  Here's a short political video I found online this AM.  It made me giggle.  It's short.  YOU MUST WATCH IT.  A fresh breath of honesty amidst a stinky, stale wind of political discourse.  Gotta love a women who tells the truth!   Enjoy!

This slip-up reminds me of how massively I stressed over the pronunciation of a name at my big emcee gig recently.  I sweated bullets (and shotgun shells) over this name.  This individual is wonderfully nice, but in a pickle of stress and stage-fright, one could go tremendously WRONG in the articulation of this man's moniker.  What was the tricky name I navigated flawlessly?

Prenis  (pree-nus).  Could you pronounce this in the big, hot spotlight??

Wishing you calm in the spotlight this week.

gracias Senor!

All of you witnessed it.  The capsule being hoisted out of the ground with a previously entombed miner.  Thirty-three times (plus the rescue workers) we witnessed a miraculous rebirth.  Another chance at life.  Miners pointing to the sky, or making the sign of the cross, or kissing Mother Earth.  Some miners fell to their knees in humble, thankful prayer.  Made me think I should spend more time there....not in Chile, but on my knees.

The shirts with the word Gracias Senor! (thank the Lord, or thank God) emblazened across the front seemed appropros.

Lots of dedicated folks deserve a big Gracias shout-out.  No doubt about it.  Thanking El Senor is a good place to start.

I haven't been lifted out of a dark, hot mine into the blinding light....not literally.  But most days I recognize the blessing of warm sunshine in my life.

So...today....Friday....is Gracias Senor! Day.  I'm giving the Big Man a shout out for those miners.  I'm giving Him an extra shout out for the love of my family.  I'm even shoutin' out for the opportunity to blog.  Yup....and for you, too.

You got a gracias for El Senor?   Don't be shy....leave your shout out in the comments and we'll all be grateful together.

Have a glorious weekend.