A Tiny Silver Pocketbook

My extraordinarily talented college friend, Julie Britton Burney, hand painted a fabulous pocketbook for me!!! I have known Julie a long, long time...she was a bridsmaid in my wedding and wore her pale pink dress like a true princess!!
After getting her degree in Interior Design back in the day, she has been busy and is now back in school getting her degree in Graphic Arts.
She is going to New York in May and is going to have a booth at a show, working on getting some of her drawings licensed!! I am very excited for this new opportunity for her and proud of her taking that step out in faith!
She personalizes her bags and paintings for the person she is painting for.
For me, she painted me as she remembered first meeting me...long brown wavy hair and big green eyes...Ah, Youth!!!
I can't wait to put my things in my new pocketbook and sashay around town!!!
Thank you Julie, you made my day!

A Tiny Little List

25 Random facts about me ( As posted on Facebook):

1. I have way too much free time or I would not be writing these notes.
2. The first VCR tape I bought was "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" and it cost about $80.00 back in 1987.
3. My dvd's are alphabetized.
4. My laptop is green and my phone is pink, my two favorite colors.
5. I make my own greeting cards...and have sold them as well.
6. I have all of my drafting equipment, pens and project boards from college.
7. I know all of the songs from "The Sound of Music", just in case I am at a show and someone needs a quick replacement.
8. I like making lists and marking things off as they are accomplished.
9. I love, love, love pocketbooks, especially really big ones.
10. I have all of the books written by Stephen King, bound in red leather, on my bookshelf.
11. I don't know how to drive a stick shift, although when I am dream that I am driving, I always drive a stick shift.
12. I cannot drive over a tall bridge, flat ones are okay.
13. I still haven't unpacked all of my wedding presents.
14. I like to wrap presents in shiny white paper and big hand tied bows.
15. I would like to go back to school and study studio art, just to learn.
16. I love shopping in paper and stationery stores.
17. I learned how to knit last year.
18. The thermostat in my car has to be on an even number.
19. I am somewhat claustrophobic and like to sit on the end.
20. I like to be early.
21. I check and double check maps before I go on a trip.
22. I would like to take piano lessons again someday.
23. I love fresh flowers, but not star gazer lilies.
24. I don't like to share closets or bathrooms.
25. I wish I lived closer to my family.

A Tiny Silver Movie Camera (2)

Here are the answers to "Guess My Favorite Movies" quiz.
Note: I have all of these movies on my dvd shelf, so come on over and we can watch one or two!!!
I posted the answers in the original post!

A Tiny Silver Movie Camera

Guess My Favorite Movies!!!

I posted this on Facebook, but thought my sister sister would enjoy playing!!!


The Rules...
1. I picked 20 of my favorite movies.
2. I went to IMDb and found a quote from each movie.
3. Posted them here for everyone to guess.
4. I will strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search or other search functions.
6. No looking at my favorite movies on my Facebook page.

1. It's giving life that counts. Until you are ready for it, all the rest is just a big fraud. All the crazy haircuts in the world won't keep it turning. Life isn't a love in, it's the dishes and the ortho and the shoe repairman and ground round instead of roast beef. And I'll tell you something else; it isn't going to bed with a man that proves you're in love with him; it's getting up in the morning and facing the drab, miserable , wonderful world with him that counts.
YOURS, MINE AND OURS ( THE ORIGINAL VERSION WITH HENRY FONDA AND LUCILLE BALL)

2. I believe one should fight for what one believes. Provided one is absolutely sure one is absolutely right.
TO SIR, WITH LOVE

3. Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become legends.
LEGENDS OF THE FALL

4. This old gypsy women once told me that if you jump backwards nine times before the sun comes up, you won't be pregnant. Well, I jumped so far I had to take a bus back and then I had twins.
WHERE THE HEART IS

5. Now, what would you like to wear? Black, black, or black?
THE SECRET GARDEN

6. In my philosophy, a man cannot call himself well-contented until he has done all he can to be of service to his employer. Of course, this assumes that one's employer is a superior person, not only in rank, or wealth, but in moral stature.
THE REMAINS OF THE DAY

7. You know, dolls make the very best friends. Just because they can't speak doesn't mean they don't listen. And did you know that when we leave them alone in our room, they come to life?
THE LITTLE PRINCESS

8. I can't go all my life waiting to catch you between husbands.
GONE WITH THE WIND

9. All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my uncles. I had to fight my brothers. A girl child ain't safe in a family of men, but I ain't never thought I'd have to fight in my own house.
THE COLOR PURPLE

10. Well, from this day henceforth, it seems you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you marry him...and I will never see you again if you do.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE ( BBC VERSION)

11. With the exception of Eddie and myself, whom you already know, we're going to be using aliases on this job. Under no circumstances do I want any of you to relate to each other by your Christian names, and I don't want any talk about yourself personally. That includes where you've been, your wife's name, where you might've done time, or maybe a bank you robbed in St. Pertersburg. All I want you guys to talk about, if you have to, is what you're going to do. That should do it.
RESERVOIR DOGS

12. Congratulations. In the history of this camp, that was the most infamous, the most disgusting, the most revolting display of hooliganism we have ever seen.
THE PARENT TRAP ( ORIGINAL VERSION WITH HAYLEY MILLS)

13. If you can paint, I can walk - anything can happen, right?
AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER

14. Say Lou, did ya hear the one about the guy who couldn't afford personalized plates, so he went and changed his name to J3L2404.
FARGO

15. On the page, it looked like nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse - bassoons and basset horns - like a rusty squeezebox. Then suddenly - high above it - an oboe, a single note, hanging there unwavering, till a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no composition by a performing monkey! This was a music I had never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable songing it had me trembling. It seemed to me I was hearing the voice of God.
AMADEUS

16. When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.
WHEN HARRY MET SALLY

17. Now please get out of my Van Halen t-shirt before you jinx the band and they break up.
THE WEDDING SINGER

18. I don't want to talk about it! Everytime I think about something nice, you remind me of bad things. I only want to talk about the nice things.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE

19. I don't know if it will help saying this to you...some men in this world are born to do our unpleasant jobs for us...your father is one of them...
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

20. Me? I'm scared of everything. I'm scared of what I saw, I'm scared of what I did, of who I am, and most of all I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I am with you.
DIRTY DANCING

A Tiny Silver Television Set

I sat down yesterday to watch what I thought would be a funny movie...it was not...so after watching about half of it, I gave up and switched over to regular tv. I dvr several shows, so there was bound to be something ready to watch. I found my show, but there was no sound. Great picture, no sound. I switched over to regular tv and again, no sound.

Hmmmmm...I am famous for hitting the wrong sequence of buttons and messing up the HD tv functions...

I tried turning it off, checked the settings, nothing worked. Finally I gave up and went to my darling daughter's basketball game. While there, I mentioned to my husband the tv problem. Knowing that I would want to watch American Idol in my den, he went home after the game and went to work.

I went to church to help prepare a meal and called him on the way home, only to find that he had spent the last two hours unhooking all of the wires from the tv, moving the tv to a different room ( where the sound worked perfectly), moving it back to the den ( again, no sound). He then put a movie in, which played perfectly...thus putting a cap on his frustration.

His first comment when I got home was that I could watch tv in the "man-cave" since the one in the den was not working. I just watched a movie, figuring the dvr would capture it's scheduled recordings and I would call the cable company in the morning.

In the middle of the night, I sat bolt upright...thinking..."I wonder if he unplugged the cable box?"

So, bright and early, I came downstairs, unplugged the cable box, waited a few minutes and plugged it back in. The re-booting started and after about 10 minutes, the box came back on, the time was displayed...looked normal.

I gingerly pushed the TV button and the Power button...and snap...there was Al Roker, telling me all about the weather!! Hurray, I have audio, I don't have to get the tv repaired, I don't have to shop for a new tv ( although, I am loving a certain Samsung I saw over Christmas holiday)!!

So, the solution was the unplug the cable bos and plug it back in, allowing it to reboot. So simple, so simple...

Kind of like hearing an animal with four legs and hooves running by and thinking Zebra, instead of horse!!!

So, I am catching up on American Idol...it looks like itis going to be an interesting season...on my favorite tv!

A Tiny Silver Book 5

Someone asked me tonight to name my 5 favorite books to read of all time, excluding The Bible. Not the 5 best books of all time, but my favorites. The ones that I can read over and over, can pick up at any time, and start anywhere in the book and enjoy them.

I have only thought about this for a couple of hours, but let's give it a whirl...

1. "A Wrinkle in Time" Madeleine L'Engle
I read this book for the first time in the 4th grade. And many times over the years. I still have that original copy, as well as a couple of others. I was young enough to think it was possible that three witches could transport a person through time and get them back before bed time. I thought the teen aged main character was strong, different and had a hard time fitting in with her peers, but was intuitive and daring at the same time. The descriptions of the characters were detailed and thorough and several years ago, when a movie version came out, I was naturally disappointed. The other books written later about the same family were also favorites. I wanted to know what kind of adults these children became and was not disappointed. One summer, I ordered every book written by this author from an online retailer and read them all, in the order she had written them, just to try to understand her thoughts.

2. "The Catcher in the Rye" J.D. Salinger
I read this book in the 9th grade Honors English class. Ms. Bryson was my teacher and I remember her telling us to read beyond the language ( off-color language) and hear what he was saying. And I did, and I heard him say that he felt like he had no control over his life. A helplessness, a hopelessness, a longing to grow up and start living...sounds like a lot of people I know!

3. "Pride and Prejudice" Jane Austen
What can I say? I love the language, the descriptions, the characters and mostly, Mr. Darcy. I want to live in Pemberley, I want to giggle at Mr. Collins, and exchange cutting eyes with Jane. I have read all of her books, several times and think "Persuasion" is also a favorite.

4. "To Kill A Mockingbird" Harper Lee
Predictable? Maybe, as I do love a book by a southern author. Humid nights, when the air is so thick, you can set your glass of ice tea on the edge of your wrought iron chair and it will never fall. The smell of fresh cut grass and honeysuckle wafting in the window of your car as you drive home from church. The endless sound of crickets chirping as you sit on the patio watching the stars blink through the leaves of an over hanging tree.
My sister gave me a signed copy of the book last year...sweet bliss!
I would like to meet Harper Lee and tell her that I think she wrote the perfect book and thank her for letting us into her world.

5. " 'Salems Lot" Stephen King
This was the first book I read by him and I will confess that the visual of the little boy vampire scratching at my window, waiting to be let in, floating around out there...was enough to make me create a cross out of popsicle sticks and keep it by my bed. I don't think I have ever slept in a room with the blinds open since then. I have read every one of his books, have them all in matching red leather on my bookshelf. This book introduced me to the whole scary book genre and for that, I am thankful. I have read books that have kept me out of basements, our of cemetaries and other places where I have no business. I am suspicious of dolls coming to life, of things that go bump in the night and the dark. Nothing like scaring yourself a little now and then!

Okay, that is it for today's list...a list that could change with the next book I read...I have posted a link to my Shelfari bookshelf, so check it out!
Read on, gentle reader, read on into the night!

A Tiny Silver Book 4

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

I, like the rest of you, had read reviews periodically about this book. One person calls it brilliant, a true look at life in the late 1950's. Another calls it depressing, a sad look at life in the late 1950's.
With the release of a movie version of Revolutionary Road, I decided to take the time and read the book.
I finished the book a couple of hours ago and I have to say, unlike most books, I do not feel like a better person for having read it. The tone is gritty, sticky and disagreeable. Arguing and simmering rage...should make for a very dramatic movie.
I might see it, I might not.
But if I do, I hope it doesn't leave me with a sense of hopelessness, like the book.

A Tiny Paintbrush

A Flower for Sarah

Baby Jesus in the manger for Sarah

His Eye is on the Sparrow for Sarah

Baylor Skyline at Sunset for Sarah


So, I am sitting in Sunday School one morning and the pastor of our church, who is also my Sunday School teacher, says he has a little project he needs some help with. (Let me interject here that lots of people have said this to me, especially in the past few months, thinking I have way to much free time while I am not working. And am ready to jump up and create something for them...)

Anyway, he tells me how a person we both know has remodeled her office and in doing so, had to move the ceiling light fixture. Covering the old location was a simple white plastic plate, effective, but boring. He had an idea of having a few covers painted with various scenes and put them up to surprise her. Maybe something with a Christmas theme or something.

That afternoon, I sent my dear husband to the local hardware store for a couple of these plates and started working on them.
The first one was a manger scene, not terribly detailed, but something to catch her attention and celebrate the season of Advent.
The second one was an eye, like the eye of God is looking down on you as you sit at your desk, diligently working. Maybe a little spooky, but always nice to know Someone is watching out for you.

The next day, the pastor called me and said he had some ideas for the covers. He was surprised to find that I had done two already, but I had a couple of more ideas.

I didn't deliver the second set until after Christmas, what with Christmas cards to write, holiday traveling and festivities to attend.
The next one is the Baylor skyline at sunset, just in case she got a little homesick for school or needed to remember where she came from.
And the last one is a simply flower, the sign of new beginnings, of new days ahead and of the beauty of God's earth.

See, my friend, Sarah, works with people who don't always fit in with society, maybe don't have a place to stay...like the Baby Jesus.
People who need to remember that God is always watching over them and loves them.
People who are helped by someone who spent a long time in school, learning how best to serve.
People who need to know that tomorrow is a new day, that you can begin again and that there is beauty in every flower, in every smile, in every person.

So, when asked to get out my tiny, little paintbrush and try to brighten up someone's day...how can I resist?

A Tiny Silver Hammer

Donald Amos Franklin

Today is my dad's birthday. He says he is 29, has been saying that for years, so we will let that be his reality!
I consider my dad to be the original McGuyver. He could build anything, fix anything, invent anything and did his best to teach us the same.

When I was very young, we lived in Florida for a while. I remember him taking a big truck innertube and lashing a round piece of plywood to the bottom and making a raft. He would pull Big Brother and I out past the waves into the deep part and let us jump off. Well, Big Brother probably jumped off of the raft...me, I was scared of seaweed, so I most likely just rode the waves. I also remember him throwing us in to the waves, sputtering to the top and saying, "Do it again!"
Thanks Dad, for teaching me how to get past my fears.

He taught me how to build a campfire, which came in handy when I was in the Girl Scouts. I can still lay out a pattern of sticks that will start a slow burn and not go out...you have to let the oxygen in to keep the fire burning.
Thanks Dad, for teaching me a skill that can save a life.

When I was in the 7th grade and taking Algebra, my dad sat at the table night after night, helping me learn the concepts. I was (am) hard headed and stubborn and I know I was hard to help. He did not give up and kept working with me until I understood that the numbers on both sides of the equal sign had to match...always.
Thanks Dad, for your patience and helping me develop my sense of logic.

He taught me how to drive. The first time I drove was in the driveway of Ganny's house on Easter Sunday, 1979. I drove frome the back of the driveway to the street, which looked like it was a mile long, but was just a couple of hundred feet or so. And then he made me back up to where we started. And that you should always push on the pedals like you have an egg under there...easy and gentle...no stomping.
He took me out to empty parking lots in the snow and taught me how to test the slickness of the road under my tires. One time he instructed me to drive way out past Leiper's Fork, driving until we had about a half a tank of gas, and then telling me to find my way back home. And I did.
Thanks Dad, for teaching me that paying attention and finding my own way are important.

My dad taught me how to fix things around the house. Good information that I have used all through my married life. I still have the little hammer he gave me when I went to college. Of course we weren't supposed to hammer nails into the walls, but a handy thing to have around. When I went to design school, he gave me his drafting tools and drawing board that he had used in college.
Thanks Dad, for giving me tools and the knowledge of how to use them.

And thank you for knocking down the rails on the fence ( see, I was listening), giving me roots and giving me wings.

I love you, I thank you and wish you a very happy 29th birthday!

A Tiny Silver Book 3

Today, while visiting a friend, the chat turned to books as it often does with My Friend, who is a librarian ( dream job!). She was telling me about someone who did not want their child to read a book at school because their family did not appreciate the language used in the book. A certain word offended them. Evidently, the parents met with the school and an alternate book was found for the child to read. The book was read, assignments were completed, story is over.
Except that this family felt so strongly that they wanted to book banned from the school, not just for their child, but for every child present and future.
And, here is where I am conflicted.
Just because they feel it is not right for them, in their opinion, it should not be right for every other child. And that smells of censorship.
Oddly enough, neither of us, nor our high schoolers had read the book, so off to the bookstore we went to buy the book.
I have read about 29 chapters ( the chapters are numbered by prime numbers, so it isn't really 29 actual chapters...) and am fascinated by the book. And wondering why I haven't read it before...so many books out there, so little reading time!
So, just because Person A does not like a book, should they be allowed to influence a large public school system?
I say no, but that is just my opinion.
The opinion of someone who was required to read "The Catcher In The Rye" in the ninth grade. And, yes that book contains many, many words that can be offensive, but it is the language of the character, chosen by the author. I don't remember any parents running into Northside Junior High to ban the book. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, maybe they were glad we were reading.

Happy Reading!

A Tiny Silver Book 2

Two of my favorite gifts I got for Christmas were gift cards to Davis Kidd Booksellers and Borders Books. Thank you, mom and dad and the two cats, Dorothy and Smokey!!
Here are the books I am looking forward to reading this month:
World Without End by Ken Follett ( I read about 100 pages at the store today...can't wait to read more!)
A Mercy by Toni Morrison ( It is Toni Morrison, what else can I say!)
Knit Two by Kate Jacobs ( This is the sequel to A Friday Night Knitting Club, which I thoroughly enjoyed!)
Between Here and April by Deborah Copaken Kogan ( This one caught my eye and looks like a great new author to try.)
The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan
The Three Junes by Julia Glass
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
The Road to Eden's Ridge by M.L. Rose ( a collaborative effort between Myra McLarey and Linda Weeks, who are writing teachers from Nashville)
So, if you call and i don't answer the phone, I am probably reading...
I'll let you know how I like them...or check out my shelf on Shelfari for some recommendations!

A Tiny Silver Book

I just finished reading A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs while I was on Christmas vacation. I had bought it for my Sony Reader several months ago, but had put off reading it. I have read all of his books, and while I find many things about them disturbing, I am compelled to read whatever he writes. The story of his childhood was made into a movie, not a great movie, but kind of predictable.
I love a good story and Augusten ( and I feel I can call him by his first name because if he knocked on my door, I could talk about anything he has ever written) is brutally honest about his childhood, his parents, his brother, his friends, the people who influenced him, his drinking, his work in advertising, his sexuality...everything.
When I first started to read his book, Running With Scissors, I wondered how in the world his father could let his mother make the decisions she did, concerning his living arrangements. Now I have a better idea. And I am saddened by his life. I truly want to invite him over for dinner.
His earlier books featured his father as this shadowy person, not in the picture, on the outside, looking in, if he cared. This book is all about his father and his mind games. That is all I am going to say because you may want to read him.
I heard Sellevision is being made into a movie...let's hope so!
And even if you don't read this book, read a book, read any book, tell someone about what you read and share the book with them!
Happy Reading!