Viv's First Honeymoon, in four parts.

Tell me, do I link to First Person Particular too often? It's truly one of the best journal sites I've read. And this is a great story.

I'm reading a book called Home Town by Tracy Kidder. It's about Northampton, Massachusetts. This is a very interesting book -- it reads like a novel, but it's actually non-fiction. All the people in the book are residents of Northampton. And as far as I can tell, the author has used all their real names. I've never read anything like it before. Like Viv's story of her honeymoon, this book is making me think about the lines we draw between fiction and non-fiction, among other things.

I am wondering about all these Puerto Rican flags I'm seeing everywhere. I never noticed them until about last fall. Now I see them everywhere I go -- on stores, houses, cars. Just Saturday, I was behind a red convertible on the highway, flying along with the top down and two Puerto Rican flags streaming out from the sides of the car. Like it had just come back from a parade. I don't know if there's really more of these flags around now, or if I have just become more attuned to them recently for some unknown reason. ;-)

Recipes - Tequila Grilled Shrimp
This recipe was a big hit at dinner tonight. Since April, Marty and I have been meeting a group of people once a month for a pot-luck dinner, and this month it was our turn to host. We grilled shrimp and chicken and I made a pie with peaches imported from Georgia. Other people brought salads, bread, and appetizers. And someone made a white chocolate cheesecake covered in strawberries. Yum.

We had a good time, although one of our favorite people from the group wasn't able to make it tonight. And there was a moment of sheer panic (for me, anyway) when we were all out in the yard and Ziggy escaped from the house. I caught him before he got far, but I was really nervous. I mean, this cat is 8 years old (as of next week) and has never been an outdoor cat. I don't want him to start now.

This is really wrong that they used this picture here. Although I know it could be worse. Believe me, I've seen much worse.

Australian Movies!
How I love 'em! Abbagirl seems to have similar taste -- check out her reviews. My favorite is Strictly Ballroom -- not just for the quirky humor, great characters, and amazing soundtrack, but for the underlying philosophy of the whole movie: Vivir con miedo, es como vivir a medias. A life lived in fear is a life half-lived. Truer words were never spoken.

Lowndes High School
This morning I was checking out what has become of some of my high school classmates. Whenever I do this, either with my own class or Marty's, I'm always surprised at how many of the hell-raisers end up getting religion and becoming preachers and youth ministers. Thank goodness the opposite isn't true, and the goody goody ones like me don't necessarily become party animals and dope fiends.

Tonight I made a copy of Ricky Martin's Vuelve CD for a friend at work . . . I've been playing this CD all day today and other people are starting to like it. I figure I'm doing them a favor. :-)

Went out to dinner and for some reason I started feeling dizzy and nauseated. Very strange. I think it's got something to do with finally slowing down at the end of the week.

Raspberry World - Today - updated at last!!!

Hello there. I'm back. When did life get so busy? Yow!

I got my car's air conditioner fixed today, at last. Just in time, too, for a hot weekend!

The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars
I reviewed this book earlier this year and am still thinking about it a lot. It's a really interesting look at the candy industry.

Anyway it's in my head because I just found out that Mars has reissued the Milky Way Dark. They changed the name to Milky Way Midnight but it's the same thing. This candy bar kicks ass. I'm so glad it's back. :-)

I've started going to the gym and I'm actually enjoying it. I'm surprised, because I don't like exercise and I don't usually like being places like that, where people seem competitive and it's loud and busy. But it's fun. My friend Clarissa is also going on a regular basis, and it's definitely more fun with a pal.

Today was funny, one of those bad Mondays that was like a sitcom or something. I started off the day by getting trapped outside in the rain on my way out the door and getting so wet that I had to come back in and change clothes (we've been having violent thunderstorms here and we were having one when I left the house).

When I finally made it out to my car in my dry clothes I found I had left my windows down since Saturday (all through the bad storms I mentioned). So my car seats are totally soaked. They're like saturated sponges. By then I was starting to wonder what else could happen.

After rolling up my car windows I went to the garage for the other car (thank goodness we have an extra one right now) and it didn't want to start. By now I was starting to laugh. But it did start, finally, and I got to work okay.

As of tonight, my car is still soaked, but I have to drive it tomorrow anyway so I can take it to get the air conditioner fixed (this is why the windows were down in the first place). I may need to wear my bathing suit to work. Ha ha.

POP!sicle zine
One of my favorite girly sites.

This is a very busy week to cap off several very busy weeks. Home is pretty busy, and work is out-of-control busy. I owe so many people e-mail or phone calls that I'm way beyond thinking I can catch up.

Hungry?

French Food You Suck On
C'mon, you know you wanna try it. We can all use a little Brunching Shuttlecocks from time to time.

P.S. Don't miss Satan on Punctuation.

Mix Tapes
Oh man oh man . . . I love this guy's take on mix tapes. Everyone knows about those shame songs.

Overslept . . . I woke up with a snuggly cat all cosied up next to me. Why is it that he can be so sweet in the mornings, yet sometimes he chooses to be such a terror? He's gonna get himself hurt one of these days.

I don't think I've mentioned it, but work's really busy these days. I'm working on a new project, a very big one that has to be done pretty fast. But it's nice to have a challenge, and it's nice to have something important to work on for once. Something that other people recognize the value of, instead of something that's only important to me. You know? I hope it's going to be all done by next Tuesday, because I'm starting vacation Wedensday June 14. YAY!

It rained overnight and the flowers I planted yesterday look nice. It's supposed to storm tonight and tomorrow though, so I hope they'll make it.

I updated Today yesterday.

The sun is shining and it's a gorgeous day in Connecticut. I've got a bunch of flowers to plant so I'm headed out to do that for awhile. Sunblock city!

Our next door neighbor is having her usual tag sale . . . she keeps it going almost every weekend spring, summer, and fall. I'm wondering where she gets the stuff to put out there on such a continuous basis. Maybe she buys it all on eBay. : )

Music: Liz Phair, Phairy Tales (songs from whitechocolate... and Exile).

Mythical Teenage Dreamgirl
My favorite journal entry of the last week, from Viv's First Person Particular. She amazes me on an almost daily basis. I love her clarity of expression and her thoughtful approach to life. Inspiration!

Sunflowers and raspberries . . . I got a great CD in the mail today. Tj made me a CD of a tape compilation we were in the middle of working on. I had taped one side of a cassette and she was going to tape the other -- instead, she made us a CD alternating my song picks with hers. It's the first one she's made for me since she got her burner, so I am really psyched. And the cover was really pretty, too.

Now I have three good friends who are making CDs. I'm so glad, because when you're addicted to something you don't want to be the only one with a problem . . . get 'em all hooked on it, then I won't look like such a freak.

I've been sleepy all day today. I even took a nap and I still felt exhausted for most of the day. I think it's allergies. Or maybe I'm just lazy.

Lately I am loving New Musical Express, this music site in the UK. I just like their reviews and news better than most other sites I've found.

Happy birthday, Celeste!

daddy's.little.girl
This is wonderful, despite the irritating little pop-up that comes up on every page.

I've been listening to the new Hanson cd, This Time Around. Before everyone gets really scared and runs away, take a look at this review in the Rolling Stone. Believe me, I was as surprised as you probably are.

Anyway, after I read that review (in which the RS writer compares Hanson to the Black Crowes and the Rolling Stones) I just had to hear it for myself. I was lucky enough to find the CD used in its first week out. And guess what? It's great! I was totally shocked. Yeah, the songs are hooky and a little overdone at times, but those boys can sing and play, and they sound like they're having a blast.

A couple of weeks later I picked up their first CD, Middle of Nowhere, on eBay for just 22 cents (plus shipping). I have to say, I really like the new album better than the first one, although I do think MMMBop will become a pop classic of the 1990s. Most of the first album just makes me giggle, but the new one makes me wanna sing along.

Maria thinks we've developed a new maturity that lets us listen to cheese pop without embarrassment. I think she may be right. : )

RW Redux stands for Raspberry World Returns. Or rather, I return to RW. I'm not sure whether I ever actually left or not, although my interaction with this site has certainly dropped off in recent months.

That's probably because I have experienced some difficult stuff lately, and my mood tends to determine whether or not I feel like writing here. But anyway, I'm back for now. Just need to get this new page formatted before I link to it from the regular page.

I'll just think of this as Raspberry World Lite. Starting this page doesn't mean I'll never go back to the Today page, but it does give me a quicker way to do these little updates when I feel like it. So there you go.

Marty just told me that Steve Mirsky is coming to speak to the New England Skeptic's Society on July 15. He is one of our favorite cultural critics. He publishes a monthly column in Scientific American, but I first discovered him in 1995 when he was running the awesome site Mirsky's Worst of the Web. He used to find the funniest, most awful sites and feature them. The Web felt very different back then. I guess it was just a lot smaller.

Worst of the Web is gone now, but I think this may belong to him too: Mirsk-T Fashions, Conglomerated.

Just testing here to see how this works. I am thinking about making this a permanent part of Raspberry World. First the journal, then the today page, then this. My attention span just seems to be getting shorter and . . .