Okay, this is the new site, check it out and please bookmark it:

http://marieinmaine.com/whoopiepiesandlobster/

That’s of course, not my image in the header of the new blog, it came with the theme. But it looks pretty cool. I might try adding one of my own later.

Hope you like it!

I bet you’ve seen pro wrestling on TV and wondered, “is that stuff for real?’ Haven’t you? No? Then maybe you want to know how it’s done. It looks pretty painful, even if you do realize it’s all faked. Not something I’d want to try.

But my awesome sister-in-law, Beth, gives it a go herself in her news reporter demo tape, seen here on YouTube. Watch the whole thing, she gets into the wrestling near the end. All that workout time really does pay off, maybe I should try it! More than a few times a year, I mean.

She’s not only a reporter, she’s also a Ph.D. candidate at Rutgers. In her spare time, she is a writer. She’s also a wife and mother. She’s been on Law and Order a couple of times too. I’d share a link but they don’t have episodes online, dangit.

Beth is the type of person who really listens to you when you’re holding a conversation. She has a great sense of humor, and lots and lots of energy. She’s a very hard worker and gives 110% to anything she does.

Unfortunately, she also lives 6 hours away, so we don’t see each other as often as we’d like. Once in a while we have family get-togethers and we always enjoy each other’s company during those times.

It’s nice to have relatives who are great people, so many times you hear about the “bad” ones, but there are some good ones out there. Beth is one of them.

Chloe, who is a boy, likes his naps:

I won’t bore you with a photograph of our rainy weather here in Portland. However, I just checked the weather widget on my dashboard, and it predicts 75 F and sunny tomorrow! Woo-hoo! I’m gonna plant my flower seeds and get ready to watch those babies grow!

I’ve been looking into fear of approaching women from a cultural standpoint. I wonder if this fear is tied to Western cultures or if it’s universal to men in all cultures. The sexual evolution stuff just doesn’t ring true to me. I’m still reading “Sperm Wars,” yes, it’s taking me a while to get through it. You can blame it on my cat, he loves to come sit in my lap and nose my book so I’ll put it down and pet him.

I have to go back to looking at WordPress themes today. I got burned out on it the other day. But I’m determined to get it done! At the very least, the new blog should be up and running this week (crossing my fingers).

As seen in Woman’s World magazine, I have decided to try some Vita-K for dark circles. Mine are probably what you’d call “medium-dark,” inherited from my mom. It’s pretty pricey, but if it works, it will be worth it.

If Robert’s nice enough to me, I might let him try it too.

In other news, I got a proof copy of the book I helped write. It’s pretty exciting seeing it in book form after all the months of hard work. Just a few changes and corrections, and it’s gonna be good to go!

Almost bought some potato skins at the store, then decided if I really want potatoes with toppings, I can make my own. Obviously I don’t follow all the fad diets in Woman’s World. They do have a lot of good tips in there, though, and I enjoy the crossword puzzle. Plus, it’s a very positive publication. And who couldn’t use a little more “upbeat” in their day?

Rain has delayed the flower planting task, oh well. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for rain as well, so it looks like Monday will be the day. In the meantime, I can always fill and put out my hummingbird feeder. On the side of the porch that’s away from the window the cat usually sits in. Not that he could catch one of those suckers anyway, they are truly the fastest bird I’ve ever seen.

I just got ordained as a minister. No, really. I went to the Universal Life Church’s website and got ordained. I’m in good company, it appears.

That means I can be an officiant at weddings. Each state has its own laws, and Maine allows ordained ministers to perform weddings.

It doesn’t mean I’ll be rushing out to advertise my services. Marrying people is not a lark. But it might make me a better person, thinking of myself as a minister. Anyone can register with the ULC, and people do it all the time.

Today I’m going to get some pots and dirt and plant some seeds. I’ve got some flower seeds and also some green onion and lettuce. I’ve had to wait because due to the cat, starting seeds indoors is a bad idea. He loves stems and digging in dirt, as I found out last year when I started several types of flowers in a tray. He was able to knock the clear plastic lid off and grab a bunch of the seedlings out, peat moss and all, while I was out. After a few times of sweeping up dirt off the floor, I ditched my plan and threw the whole mess out.

This year will be different: I’m gonna plant seeds of cool-weather plants and see how they do outside. In June, I’ll do some of the more delicate varieties, those that can’t take temps of 38 F at night, as we had last night. Yikes. Where’s the warm weather? We had a few nice days and now it’s in the 50’s again. Welcome to Maine, but in the summer, the temps can’t be beat. We get ocean breezes and lots of sun.

I’m still reading “Sperm Wars,” by the way. I have a lot going on, so I can only manage a little here and there. “The Game” has yet to arrive at the library, so I’m gonna call them and make sure it’s still on order, maybe I missed a notification or something with all the emails I’ve been getting lately.

Have a great day, and I bestow blessings upon you all!

Thanks to advice from SpaceDevil13, who wrote to me and advised me to consider hosting this blog elsewhere, I am doing just that.

I am trying to decide if I should keep it all in one blog or have two separate blogs: one for things in Maine, and another for the more adult talk, my opinions and occasional rants. ‘Cause I need to vent somewhere, but a blog with cooking and places of interest in Maine, plus with the added stuff about the PUA lifestyle is not the right place to do it!

I’m still trying to pick out a good WordPress theme. I got the blog entries transferred okay, but some of the themes do funky things like say “No comments,” and then when you click on that, all the comments are there! Other themes have built-in widgets and if I add my own widgets, it shoves those down into the footer and makes for some funkalicioius eyecandy confusion.

I am also looking for a theme that allows me to use one or more of my photos in the header.

I know a tiny bit of HTML, the basic stuff. I can learn a little more if I have to. I know zip about CSS, except it looks like a lot of callouts to other files. I did get an ‘A’ in computer logic :::mumble, mumble::: years ago and I know a little COBOL. I’ve also made databases in FileMaker Pro so I’m familiar with fields and stuff like that. I know a little bit about graphic design but the last time I “made” a webpage from scratch was several years ago, before CSS became all the rage. I do have access to Dreamweaver if that helps.

I’ve been looking at 3-column themes, but not sure if that’s the way to go. I’d like to add my own widgets for tracking stats (I like StatCounter, open to other suggestions), and maybe an Amazon affiliate and/or a tip jar. Not that I expect to make a ton of bucks blogging, but I’d like to have the stuff there just in case Bill Gates stops by and likes what he sees

Someone told me adding my Twitter to my sidebar would be a good idea too (I don’t know why, ’cause I think my Tweets are pretty boring unless you like hearing me bitch about my cat waking me up at 4:00 a.m.).

I am probably going to have a main page with links to both blogs, and maybe links to my better photos and writing samples. Obviously, using WordPress software, the blogs are easiest to set up first. Well, they are easier in theory: as long as I can figure out which theme to use and how to do some simple alterations like changing the header photo and adding my own widgets.

Lastly, the book I just helped research and write is coming out soon, so I want to promote that as well. It’s an inexpensive consumer guide on how homeowners in danger of foreclosure can find resources and info to help them navigate the maze, as well as tidbits on how to assess their current situation, avoid scams, and how to rebuild their credit. There will be a website with news updates included in the price of the book, so it’s a lot of value for a very low price! So far I know of at least one woman who read the draft and was able to get herself out of hot water just by using one or two of the tips, and I’m excited to see this book finally coming to market, because it has the potential to educate and help a lot of people.

Any suggestions on all of this are welcome!

Robert and I attended a ballet presentation yesterday. It was put on by the Konservatoriet dance school in Alfred. Robert is a part-time teacher and co-director at the Konservatoriet. The school is run by Lynne Penn-Davison, and she organized a workshop presentation using her students’ choreography. It was a great time and the students did a wonderful job.

We were most impressed by one 11-year-old girl (seen below in the full-length tutu), who not only choreographed an elaborate dance called “No Bedtime for Us!”, but danced very well herself in several of the presentations. The ages of the students ranged from 3 to over 50, and the purpose was to raise awareness about the scholarships needed to allow these young women to take classes on an ongoing basis.

Ballet and other forms of dance require more than one class per week in order for the students to gain the full benefit of this art form. It’s not only a healthy activity, it promotes self-confidence, teaches posture, and gives the girls a sense of accomplishment. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford to pay for classes, so scholarships are often the only route for many of these students.

I took some pictures after the performance:

This last one is downtown Alfred. It’s a quaint little town south of Portland, and because the studio is in Alfred, Lynne can charge lower fees for the classes due to a lower overhead. So sponsoring a girl is not that expensive.

For more information on classes - including modern as well as ballet - or if you’d like to donate to Konservatoriet’s scholarship fund, please contact Lynne Penn-Davison at konservatoriet (at) verizon.net (substitute the “@” symbol for “(at)”, of course) or telephone (207) 324-6391.

The bumblebees like these flowers.

Taken with a Canon PowerShot A560, macro setting.

Yeah, I really do talk like that. Sometimes. I lived in the Midwest for years, but when you come back home, you pick up the accent again. I say “bahn” for “barn” and “cellar” for “basement,” among other things. When I was a kid, we used to say “daowwww” for “no.”

“I suck at darts.”

“Daoww, you do not!”

So anyway, what’s for suppah?

We’ve got some lamb shoulder chops, marinating in lemon juice, fresh rosemary, olive oil, and freshly chopped garlic. I’m not a huge fan of lamb, but if it is marinated with rosemary, it’s wicked good.

On the side, I’m doing turnip greens, according to Winona. I don’t know if this is the Winona, but it looks like danged good recipe, so I’m using it with my greens (I opted for turnip but use any greens you like). Unfortunately, I threw out my pork fat from the pulled pork the other night, and I am out of bacon. So I’m gonna fry up some link sausage and use the grease from those, then chop the cooked sausage up into bits and cook ‘em with the greens. This is all Emeril’s fault: I saw him cooking greens on TV yesterday and I got a taste for them.

For the carbs, I’m boiling up some white potatoes and am going to mix them with a little butter and fresh parsley. Italian parsley, I hear that has more flavor than the curly variety.

I am lucky enough to have a seasoned cast-iron pan that belonged to Robert’s mother, and therefore, I am using this method to cook the lamb chops. I imagine it would work with anything from veal to steak. I’ve seen a lot of Chef Ramsay’s YouTube videos, and I recall that he did a venison steak this way once, and served it with a chocolate sauce. Chef Ramsay, I will let you teach me how to make venison in my kitchen any day. For research purposes, of course. Also, Robert loves chocolate, so it would be a plus for me to learn how to combine meat with chocolate.

How do I do all of this? I use my iPod to keep me going. I have some pretty decent playlists, including one which I call “Feel Good.” Here it is, my cooking music, for your enjoyment:

Rock DJ - Robbie Williams

Shake Ya Tailfeather - Murphy Lee, Nelly & P. Diddy

Rich Girl - Gwen Stefani

Rock el Casbah - Rachid Taha (I got turned onto Rachid Taha last year by my bellydancing teacher)

Free Your Mind - En Vogue

The Flame - Cheap Trick (used to have “Live at Budokan” on vinyl. Yes, I am old, but not that old, and if you gew-gaw at someone having played vinyl albums, guess what, you will be old someday too)

Lullaby - Shawn Mullins (he is cute, and he got me through some bad times, so there)

Soak Up the Sun - Sheryl Crow (what can I say, Sheryl Crow rocks)

Brimful of Asha - Cornershop

All I Wanna Do - Sheryl Crow (yes, I clicked on her twice at the iTunes store, it’s a good song, she must’ve read my mind when she wrote this song)

Beverly Hills - Weezer

Mambo Italian (Hey Mambo) - The Hit Crew

Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado Orchestra (hat tip to Weebl & Bob)

Hips Don’t Lie - Shakira

Desire - U2 (I love Bono, he has the coolest sunglasses)

That’s it, folks. If you have any more suggestions for feel good music, let me know. In the meantime, I’ve gotta go check my potatoes.