snow — Page 35

In and Out: Two Views

February 2, 2015 at 8:33 am by Claudia

2-2 view

This has been my almost-constant view lately, as I sit in my chair, kleenex in hand, sniffling, coughing, drinking orange juice, generally feeling yucky. Sometimes I read; actually, I’ve been reading a lot, sometimes I browse on the old internet, sometimes I feel sorry for myself. Waaah.

Last week was a tough week and this one….well, it’s starting out with a bang. We’re in a snow event here with snow falling all night and about 7 or 8 inches on the ground this morning, with snow expected to fall all day long. Here’s another view for you today:

2-2 snowevent

Soon it will be higher than our chairs on the funky patio. I got up around 6 this morning, jolted awake by a coughing fit, and Don got up just long enough to go out and shovel Scoutie’s little corral for her. Then he went back to bed. This picture was taken about an hour later. You can’t even tell where Don shoveled.

And the temps are frigid out there, which doesn’t bode well.

I’m ready to shovel, but Don won’t let me. (I may sneak some in.)

We are ready for winter to be over.

Unfortunately, it’s only February 2nd.

Thanks for all your wonderful 10 favorite movie lists yesterday! What fun it was to read everybody’s faves. As I suspected, each time I read a list, I was reminded of yet another movie that I loved. (I stealthily added Cinema Paradiso to my list later in the day.) If you haven’t read the comments on that post, you may want to make some hot chocolate, or coffee, or tea and peruse everybody’s favorites.

What else? I’m just about to finish Howard’s End is on the Landing by Susan Hill and I’m diving into The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney. I have a book review coming up on this blog tomorrow.

I’m taking a little survey on Just Let Me Finish This Page, inspired by a chapter in Susan Hill’s book. Do you jot notes in the margins of books? Are you someone who never writes in the pages of a book? Or are you somewhere in between? Stop by Do You Scribble in the Margins?

Happy Monday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

On Your Mark: Name Your Ten Favorite Movies

February 1, 2015 at 8:49 am by Claudia

Oh boy. 10 – 15 inches of snow headed our way tonight into tomorrow. I know some of you to the west of us are already getting hammered.

Don, honey…I’m glad you’ve got that snowblower because I am not up for shoveling at this point in time. Maybe a bit of shoveling for Dame Scout’s mini-corral, if I’m feeling better, but that’s about it. Right now, even that seems an impossibility.

Let’s look at something pretty. Friday night’s sunset:

2-1 sunset

Pretty spectacular. Isn’t it nice that I can just pop my head out the kitchen door and capture this beauty?

Today’s topic: Name Your Ten Favorite Movies.

I’ll start off, in no particular order, and I know as soon as I see your lists, I’ll remember others that I love. These are movies that I will immediately drop whatever I’m doing to watch.

It’s truly hard to narrow the list down to ten, but give it your best shot.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird (no surprise there)

2. Anything with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

3. All the President’s Men

4. It Happened One Night

5. Big Country

6. The Awful Truth

7. His Girl Friday

8. Anything with Audrey Hepburn

9. It’s a Wonderful Life

10. The Shop Around the Corner

11. Add on: Cinema Paradiso

Okay. Your turn. I may or may not comment, depending on how I’m feeling.

(I probably will.)

Happy Sunday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

On Snark

January 27, 2015 at 9:02 am by Claudia

1-23 sunset

At 6 am, with great trepidation, we opened the kitchen door. How much snow would be piled up? How much snow would we have to shovel in order for Scout to do her thing?

Apparently, none.

There’s only an inch or so of snow out there. The big old nor’easter, though still pounding away at the eastern reaches of the Northeast, was a bust here.

Hurrah!

I am not one to berate our local weather guys, who are the ones I rely on for a sane, thoughtful forecast. All of the models predicted a major event and, to their credit, they predicted a large amount of snow, but always referenced the instability of the forecast and the fact that it could change. I’m just grateful that people in my neck of the woods are safe and have power.

Armchair quarterbacking on weather forecasts is not for me. Yes, the Weather Channel tends to run toward hype. But even in their case, I have to believe the intentions behind all of it are basically sincere.

I say all this because our local guys have a Facebook page where they post updates in addition to the ones on their website and there are lots of snarky comments there this morning. In response, I posted one that said: Shut Up. Be grateful that these guys work for hours and hours trying to give us the best possible information. Be grateful that we dodged a bullet. Be grateful you are safe.

I’m sick of snarky. Everyone’s a critic nowadays on the internet. Everyone has a snarky comment or two or three. Everyone says hurtful things. It’s so easy, in these days of a keyboard, a mouse, and a public forum where everyone can spout supposed witticisms that really only serve to hurt.

From the Urban Dictionary: Snark. Noun. Combination of ‘snide’ and ‘remark.’

Snarky is lazy. It masquerades as wit, but isn’t funny at all.

One of my favorite lines from The Newsroom, and one that creator Aaron Sorkin has used in interviews, as well, is:

“Snark is the idiot’s version of wit, and we’re being polluted by it.”

Amen. We are being polluted by it.

Mean-spirited comments on blog posts. Mean spirited comments on forums. Mean spirited comments on news sites. Mean spirited comments on sports sites. And mean spirited comments on 24 cable news programming.

And of course, I don’t mean literally ‘everyone.’ But there’s sure a lot of it out there.

Noel Coward, a true wit, would be turning over in his grave.

Hey, I don’t mind a reasoned and fair critique. That kind of dialogue can be valuable for all concerned. We need that.

But snark? No and no. Snark is just a cheap shot. Snark has no intention other than to hurt.

End of sermon on this miraculously blizzard-free, snow-free morning.

I am grateful. I know that weather can turn on a dime. I thank everyone for doing their absolute best to forewarn us of possible danger.

Mother Nature can be fickle. I get it.

Happy Tuesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

In and Out: Two Views

On Your Mark: Name Your Ten Favorite Movies

On Snark

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Archives