The quieter you become the more you can hear ~ Ram Dass



Sunday, June 28, 2015

Rain, rain

I think we might break the record which is 9.77" set in 1902 for June.  I guess it could be worse like in some states.  At least at our house we haven't had any flooding Some days it's been like someone's turned on the water faucet, lol. 

Monday, June 22, 2015

"Free Your Mind"

is a quote from Christian Grey, FSOG as well as the new book Grey from EL James. There will be spoilers so if you intend on reading the book you might not want to read anymore.

If you didn't like the trilogy, you aren't going to like this which shouldn't be a surprise.  Detractor's get a grip.  I know it's fashionable to put down the whole FSOG phenomenon but at least be respectful about the people reading them.  I don't like vampire, horror books and all kinds of other genre but I certainly wouldn't put people down if that's their thing.  Remember, variety is the spice of life ;-)

I thoroughly enjoyed the new book Grey.  Some people are complaining that it was the same book as FSOG.  Well... it is called Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as told by Christian.  Which meant it was going to be the exact same story (same emails, same things happening, etc.) but through Christians POV.  I will admit if you never read a book like this it might make you think you are getting ripped off but having read several of these kinds of books I've come to like reading the other person's view.  You know they always say there are two sides to every story, ha!

It's still not a literary masterpiece (which most novels aren't), however, I thought it was much better written than the first 3 books.

Some reviews I've read from ordinary people that bought the book are complaining that they didn't learn anything new about Christian Grey.  I just don't get it.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

I was surprised that when he communicated with Elena (Mrs. Robinson) that he didn't divulge more information about Ana. In FSOG, I was under the impression he pretty much spilled his guts to her, considering he told Ana the only one besides Dr. Flynn that he told things to was Elena. He did mention that he had talked about her to Elena. 

Also, we got a little bit of when Christian was Elena's sub.  Disturbing but insightful nonetheless. 

Learned more through dreams about his biological mother.  She called him "maggot" wow!  WTH?  If that was a term of endearment, I would rather be called nothing.

There was some about Leila when she was Christian's sub.  Interesting.

Also, I think there were times when Leila was in the apartment (which we find out about in book 2) that he senses something but doesn't put 2 and 2 together.

I enjoyed seeing him with his employees.  Much more friendlier to them then he appears in FSOG:  Mrs. Jones, Ros, etc: Taylor too.  I wish though he would have confided more in Taylor.

I loved the therapy session with Dr. Flynn.  Too bad he was out of town and wasn't in the book until the end.

Miss dark, dark eyes (the person that would bring his room service up when he was at the hotel in Portland).  I'm not sure who she is/was.  Just a throwaway character?  Intriguing! 

I could go on and on about this but I'm like "an island state" another FS quote, here.  No one to talk to about this, unless someone reads this and wants to email me and give me your impressions.

I hope very much that EL James writes the other books from Christians POV.







Friday, June 19, 2015

Hibachi Restaurant

Wednesday was Dinner Friends night.  The gal whose birthday it was was turning 60 and she chose a restaurant where we could have dinner cooked on a hibachi in front of us.  Always a fun thing to do.  The food was so delicious.  We first had ginger soup and a small salad.  Then he cooked eggs 



and adds rice to them.  Also, makes fried noodles.  I ordered Filet Mignon and chicken, some ordered shrimp (not shown).  There were also vegetables.



As he was cooking he did the usual trying to get you to catch broccoli in your mouth when he threw it.  I think he wasn't a very good aim because not many were able to catch it, ha!  Also, the saki in the mouth trick (I didn't take any)  but it was still enjoyable.  One thing about eating in these kinds of places there's always a lot to take home.

For our friend whose birthday it was we got her a birthday dessert.  It was really cute.


It was ice cream scoops with this little decoration that was lit and turned.  How clever.

Next year, the last woman in our group will turn 60. (We are getting old/er)

However, the first one in our group will be turning 70 next month.  We are doing something really special for that.  It might even involve a sleep-over if all goes as planned.






Monday, June 15, 2015

What's been happening

Not much, mainly mundane things doctors, dentists.  I have been sitting on the patio a lot.  The weather has been mostly great for it.

I did go with Magellan and another dinner friend to a rib cook-off.  There are many in Northeast Ohio but I've never gone to any.  There was a particular band Magellan follows to different bars/clubs and they were going to be at this particular cook-off so we went.

I did buy some food but not ribs, a pulled pork sandwich.  It was delicious.  It was from a place in Texas. 

We sat and watched the band, it was so fun.  The opening act which is a female singer wasn't there for some reason so the group Magellan likes sang two sets.  They sang mostly Motown which I love.  It drizzled off and on.  We almost left a couple of times but we stuck it out to the end.

I was disappointed a little when I noticed a Euclid Beach Ice Cream stand because I was filled up from the sandwich.  Years ago on the Eastside of Cleveland, there was an amusement park called Euclid Beach Park.  We used to go when I was little.  It did close in 1969 though.  They were quite famous for their popcorn and taffy (at least around here).  A company still sells it and it can be ordered online.  I vaguely remember they had good ice cream and they had a stand at the cook off.  If I would have known I probably would have forgone the sandwich for the ice cream to see if I could remember what it tasted like.  

Thursday, June 4, 2015

The Wedding

The wedding was lovely.  I didn't know what to expect.  However, when they were planning it, my only stipulation was not to get married by Elvis, lol, and they didn't.

It was a short ceremony only 7 minutes but in the scheme of things all you really need to do is say 'I do'.
Daughter-in-law got walked down the aisle by her father and most of the immediate families were there. The person that was officiating said some sweet things.

They also had some friends from the college dil works at.  So in all, there was probably about 20 people.

One of son's friends he went to school from kindergarten with lives in California and he was able to come.  He is a photographer and took pictures as their gift.  We are able to download them or print them for free which is a big plus.  After the ceremony, they went to several locations to take pictures around Las Vegas.





We all had dinner at a restaurant that was on Fremont Street which was very good.  They plan to have a reception/celebration in Ohio next year for the 1st anniversary.


Tuesday, June 2, 2015

The D

We decided to stay on Fremont Street downtown because it was going to be close to the wedding chapel and also within walking distance to where dinner was going to be later that night.

Years ago, we stayed on Fremont Street and stayed at The Fitzgerald's.   A new owner took over and it is now called The D (for Detroit).  I was anxious to see what it looked like since it was remodeled.

I liked the updating, however, I forgot how small the rooms were.  The first time I set foot in the room I felt a little claustrophobic.  There were the beds and dresser.  One chair under the seating part of the dresser. (I guess I got used to being at The Orleans where you have a separate sitting area.)  The next day I was used to the smaller room though, thank goodness.  We were closer to the mountains which was nice to see when looking out the window.

On the first floor they have what they call the Longbar that is supposed to be the longest bar in Vegas.  Also all the bartenders at the D do tricks with the bottles (think of the movie cocktail, ha!)  By the gambling tables, they have women that stand on little platforms dancing (think go go dancers, if you're old enough to know what those are).

They have 4 places to eat:  McDonald's, Coney Island, the D grill and a fancy Steak place.  Ha, you could tell which one we didn't go to because I don't remember the name.  Hippie would get coffee at McDonald's every morning - no coffee maker in the room.  I never tasted a coney island hot dog.  It was very good and the french fries were excellent.

We spent our time gambling at the 2nd floor bar.  It was what they called the vintage floor.  On some machines you could use coins in the machines.  Also, they played 60's and 70's music.  There was a patio right outside the bar we could go out on and people watch.  There was a fortune teller/palm reader/tarot card reader in the red wagon.  I thought about going and then promptly forgot. (Click to enlarge pictures)



I really had to laugh.  On the patio, they had an escalator coming up but if you wanted to go down you had to go inside through the casino (who ever came up with that idea was brilliant)


I loved to people watch off that patio.  It was very amusing at times.  Picture this: an Elvis with his nurse.  The nurse was bare breasted with pasties.  Also, a guy with a cowboy hat wearing a thong with just his manly part covered, no shirt only suspenders. (It must have been a one piece)  I decided they must have been very brave because the woman was older and her girls weren't standing to attention.

There is for lack of a better word a canape over part of Fremont Street.  At night, they show all kinds of things on it.  They also have 4 zip lines that you can ride during the day or night.  It looks really cool especially when the display is going on.



The room we stayed in still was old fashioned.  There was no thermostat in the room.  You had to turn the controls to warmer or colder which made for noise during the night which turned out to be a good thing.




At night next to The D which is to the left, they have either live music or a DJ who plays music and dances.  We were on the 20th floor right above the stage.  With the noise from the air conditioner/furnace you could barely hear the music.  It always lasted pretty late.

The thing I disliked was the elevator system.  I won't even go into what a pain that was.  I would still go back to The D again though.  We had a lot of fun.