Ads for Education

You may have noticed the ads on my blog.  Every time an ad is clicked, I receive a check in the mail.  Every penny goes to the college funds of underpriveleged children (mine).

So, the next time you think about not clicking on a Toyota ad, just remember the children who may never go to college because of your neglect.

Be considerate.  Click on ads when they interest you.  I'm trying my best to make this blog interesting and fun, the least you can do is help me exploit it a bit for the future generation.  Stop being so cheap, people.

Sundance in Autumn

Melanie and I try to go up by Sundance and Aspen Grove every autumn when the leaves are changing colors.  Here is one of my masterpieces from today.  Isn't the composition brilliant?  I think I'm going to frame it.  What an ARTIST!  I amaze myself sometimes, and between you and me, that's something.

Cheesecake

This is a twist on one of Junior's cheesecakes.  (Junior's is a New York restaurant famous for cheesecake.)  This is EASY and YUMMY.  This cake is easier than almost any other cake I've made, so forget that stuff about cheesecakes being difficult.  All ingredients get mixed in a stand mixer and then straight onto the crust.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place 8 oz. (1 package) of full-fat cream cheese (you'll need a total of 3 cream cheese packages), 1/3 cup of sugar, and 3 tablespoons of corn starch in a stand mixer, beating on low for about 3 minutes.  You'll have to scrape down the sides a couple of times.

Blend in 16 oz. (2 packages) more of cream cheese.  Increase speed to medium, add in 1 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of vanilla.  Blend in 2 eggs, 1 at a time, and beat well.  Then beat in (barely, do NOT overbeat) 2/3 cup of heavy whipping cream.

Melanie melts 1/4 cup of butter and mixes it with 24 graham crackers (6 full sheets), a teaspoon of sugar (just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, in the most delightful way), and a pinch of salt.

Place graham cracker crust in the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.  Wrap the bottom of the pan in foil because it will go in a water bath and you don't want soggy cheesecake.  If you don't have a springform or don't want to mess with wrapping it, you can use a pie dish but it needs to be deep or the filling won't fit.

Spoon in the cheesecake mixture and place the springform pan in a shallow dish filled with water.  This keeps the cheesecake from cracking and drying out.

Bake for just over an hour.  The top should be nice and golden but not cracked.  Let it cool for an hour or two before placing it in the refrigerator.  (You may want to place it in the freezer so you can cut clean slices and then move it to the refrigerator.)  It will need to be in the refrigerator for about 4 hours before eating.  Too bad, you'll have to wait.

A Trivial Quiz And My Totally Biased Answer

Question: What do these books and authors have in common?

Canterbury Tales

The Bible

Shakespeare

Walt Whitman

Huck Finn

Tolkien

Dr. Seuss

Answer: You linguists out there might be thinking that these are the definitive English works.  Well, if you are, you're wrong.

Name a better character than Piglet.  Hamlet--close but no cigar.  How about Pooh?  Sorry, Bilbo.  How about Tigger?  Puck is Shakespeare's best attempt, but Tigger is better.  And he's not obnoxious.

The definitive English work is Winnie the Pooh because it is really funny and I said so.  You need to stop arguing and go read it, okay, because then you'll know that I'm totally biased and right.

The Black Stallion Returns...Only to Be Eaten

I love the Black Stallion.  It's a fantastic and beautiful movie directed by Caroll Ballard (another man named Caroll) and starring Mickey Rooney and Teri Garr and a really cute little kid, Kelly Reno (that's a boy named Kelly--what's with these film men with girl names?).  Melanie went to the library last week and checked out "The Black Stallion Returns" because she thought Joseph and I would like it.

Joseph enjoyed it.  I never got a chance.

Here's his mugshot.  Joseph was taken in for questioning regarding the eating of a local library DVD.  He reluctantly confessed.

 

 

 

The Third Man

The Third Man is one of my favorite movies.  With a bit of noir, a bit of romance, a bit of cynical comedy, this post-war film shot in Vienna is one of the best of all time.  It's Casablanca + steroids + more mood - the great lines + some grit.  It stars our old Citizen Kane/War of the Worlds buddy, Orson Welles, and the painfully underrated Joseph Cotten.  The music is all zither from Anton Karas--the theatrical trailers said "his zither will have you in a dither."  I'm sure that's the corniest thing I've ever heard, but the music is amazing and I've never heard a more appropriate score.

The movie is directed by Carol Reed.  Isn't Carol a woman's name?  Not on your life, Buddy.  Carol's only the greatest British film director ever, ever, ever, of all time, ever.

If you want great shots, great music, great acting, great location, and the first ever sewer chase scene plus death threats from the top of a ferris wheel, this is the movie for you.  Check it out, you won't regret it...unless you can't get the music out of your head because it has you in a dither.

Adelaide, oh, Adelaide, ever-lovin' Adelaide

Go to the 23 July 2009 posting on this blog and you'll see one key-OOT little girl (you should see her mom...grrr).
giovannalou.blogspot.com

 

 

 

She is the princess to all princesses.  She likes the dressing up, the parties, the fundraising socials, the ceremonies, the hors d'oeuvres the limousines, and the catwalks.  Give her what she wants and get out of the way.  Girl Power!

The Great Buck Howard

The Great Buck Howard has Napoleon Dynamite flair and rocking soundtrack but with a plot and an awesome cast with John Malkovich, Colin Hanks, and Emily Blunt.

This is one quirky, funny movie that all Howlands and Ellsworths will soon be quoting around the dinner table as they choke on their last bite of ham.

Buck Howard is a grumpy, demanding has-been entertainer who still thinks he's at the top of his game (do you see how this guy could easily fit into the family?).

Everybody go see it tonight.

This isn't the OK Buck Howard, or The Pretty Good Buck Howard.  This is the GREAT Buck Howland.  I mean Howard.  The Great Buck Howard.

My Revolutionary Twin

Revolutionary Twins

It's a little unnerving to read about yourself in a history book.  I would have liked to meet him, but would hate how much he cramped my style.

At 33, Nathanael Greene was an officer in the American army, had been a full-time soldier for only six months, had never served in a campaign, and had never been on a battlefield.  He was a Quaker of "robust physique" though had a slight limp since childhood and mild asthma.

David McCullough says he was "no ordinary man.  He had a quick, inquiring mind and uncommon resolve.  He was extremely hardworking, forthright, good-natured, and a born leader...Washington had judged Nathanael Greene to be 'an object of confidence.'"

He was a "'cheerful, vigorous, thoughtful' young man who, like his father, loved a 'merry jest or tale,' who did comic imitations, and relished the company of young ladies, while they, reportedly, 'never felt lonely where he was.'  Once, accused by a dancing partner of dancing stiffly, because of his bad leg, Nathanael replied, 'Very true, but you see I dance strong.'"

"His defects were perceived to be a certain 'nervous temperament' and susceptibility to poor health, impetuousness, and acute sensitivity to criticism.  Full-grown, he was a burly figure...with the arms and shoulders of a foundryman, and handsome...A broad forehead and a full, 'decided' mouth were considered his best features, though a soldier sent to deliver a message to the general would remember his 'fine blue eyes, which struck me with a considerable degree of awe, the I could scarcely deliver my message.'"

I have fine green eyes, not fine blue eyes.

He believed that anyone could "learn whever was required...by the close study of books."

"Whatever he lacked in knowledge or experience, he tried to make up for with 'watchfulness and industry.'"

So, maybe he's not my twin, but you may recognize more than a few similarities.  Half of me was bummed when I read this: I thought my character was unique.  Oh, well.  The other half of me wanted to meet this guy after I give up my acute sensitivity to criticism and my nervousness.