Christmas Tree is Up

I was got into the mood early and put up our Christmas Tree. It needs a few touches before the setup is complete. I put it in front of a window to be seen from the street. I won't open the window until after Thanksgiving because I am too chicken to make my early Christmas spirit obvious to the neighborhood. Anyway, we needed a place to set presents that we have already wrapped.

As I type this, I am listening to Netscape's Radio holiday music. They offer 10 different Christmas channels right now (as well as much more- all free). Christmas music is the best.

XM iPod

The Delphi MyFi is not really an iPod, although this pocket XM radio may put a dent in Apple's sales. These were advertised in the Sunday newspaper ads. Alas, they are not out yet and no date was given for the release, but it must be soon since the ad is out, right? I wonder if it fits in a pocket. Unfortunately, the battery life is a measly 5 hours.

Wal-Mart: Bigger than the Internet - MUCH Bigger

My husband pointed out this interesting fact from SlashDot:

Whew - and I thought the Internet was big.

My Bookmarks.com

A visitor came here via an online bookmark service. I remember hearing about MyBookmarks.com before so I visited the site. If you can't create and upload your own web page with your bookmarks, then this service will do it for you. I can see where it would be handy for travelers. You could go on the Internet and find your bookmark page, then visit your sites while away from home.

There's an option to keep the page private or make it available for public use. I don't see a lot of ads on the page. I created one very quickly with their utility that imports bookmarks from most browers -- very nice and no confusing bells and whistles to figure out.

So, whoever came to my page from this list. Thanks! I now have a list of my own bookmarks to use away from home or as a backup.

Rainy Day & Music

It rained yesterday plus most of last night. I was talking about it with a friend. We find that we react to days like this differently. He gets cabin fever and grows bored and unhappy when he can't go out. I grab a good book, a quilt and a cup of hot cocoa and enjoy not having to go anywhere. Usually I end up with a cat in my lap for added warmth. I love walking, but I also love staying home.

Not only that, but I've been listening to newly-released albums from my two favorite artists -- Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Mannheim Steamroller. To hear excerpts from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra album, click here and scroll down the page. To listen to Mannheim Steamroller's new album, click here and also scroll down.

Blog Monitoring - They are Watching You

I worked for a newspaper clipping service in the late 1970's. Clients would hire us to read newspapers and report back to them whenever their name (or item of interest) was mentioned. (I was  assigned to Missouri, New Mexico and Minnesota papers. I got acquainted with every little city in those states.)

Mostly, companies wanted to see if ads they had paid for were actually getting out in print. Today, the reasons for monitoring the media are varied. Now, even blogs are being monitored professionally --> Market Wire News. I wish I were -- that would mean more visitors - ha!

It's tempting to drop a few names like Paris Hilton, Tara Reid, Arafat, The OC, Daily Mirror and The Grudge, but that would not be nice. (Most of those names were top Google searches in recent weeks.)

Speaking of coming to this site, I hope anyone who comes here through a keyword search will click on "Search" at the top of this page and use the search box. Information has often scrolled off and been archived by the time a search engine reports it. Speaking of which, I read a comment about Microsoft's new search engine -- it is not staying as updated as Google does.

Alignment of Jupiter, Venus, the Moon and Mars

This morning in the Eastern sky appeared an unusual vertical alignment of stars and the moon. Jupiter was the highest. Underneath it was Venus, the Moon and Mars. I was  out walking and watched it as the sky lightened. Dawn came in a blazing pink and orange, a breathlessly beautiful background.

I took a photo although all I had with me was my trusty little Minolta DiMage Xt. I decided to play around and move the camera in a pattern to see what would result.

What I ended up with was this photo of Jupiter, the Moon and a house light. It kind of reminds me of a candle. If you click on the photo and click on "<-- Newer Photo," there will be a few other photos like the one above made with street and house lights.

More events coming up for this year courtesy of Joe Orman:

Animated Alphabets, Buttons, etc.

Thanks to MAGOD, I found Animation VirtualLand with quality animated letters, dividers, etc. These are ones I'd never seen before. (P.S. Check the comments for the soup recipe from yesterday. There's an ever better recipe from Ned.)

Another Campaign Flash

Got this link from A Bama Blog at Blogspot -- It's yet another flash file about the campaign -- a pretty good one, too -->  http://i.euniverse.com/funpages/cms_content/6019/bohemianrhapsody3.swf.

Cream Of ... Soup Recipe

I wanted to make a great cream of broccoli soup so I opened my trusty "Joy of Cooking" and found a recipe. I followed the recipe and -- phew -- what a disappointment that was! The recipe has little cream in it and was based more on chicken stock. It was not that thick, either. We made it edible by throwing in some cheese.

That was the first time that Joy of Cooking disappointed me. I was discussing this with a friend who said the 1968 or so edition is much better. I am looking for a recipe that is like a fresher version of Campbell's Cream of Broccoli.

Meanwhile, the next time I make a "cream of" soup, I may try Heloise's recipe. Heloise says:

This cream-soup recipe is so easy to put together and is the base for many different cream soups — just add your own flavor ingredients, like mushrooms, cooked chicken, broccoli or any leftovers you have on hand, and you’ll have a delicious, quick soup. A bonus is that the base is fat-free. To make one batch, mix together: 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon of dried basil 1 tablespoon of dried onion flakes 2 tablespoons cornstarch 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules 1 cup nonfat dried milk powder If you don’t use it right away, store it in an airtight container or zip bag. To make the soup, put the mixture in a large saucepan and add 2 cups of cold water. Cook on medium heat and stir constantly until the mixture thickens. Next, add other ingredients and let the soup cook a few minutes longer. This will make about 4 to 6 servings, depending on what you add to it. For more great soup recipes, get a copy of my six-page soup pamphlet, Heloise’s Spectacular Soups. Just send $4 and a long, stamped (60 cents), self-addressed envelope to: Heloise/Soup, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. Or you can visit my Web site at www.Heloise.com and go to the pamphlet section. Hint: For an interesting cream-soup topping, sprinkle with chopped herbs, add a dollop of sour cream or sprinkle with a dash of paprika for color.