Victoria On My Mind

By now many of you have heard of Groupon and the offers they extend. Well, I went and bought so half off coupons on the Victoria Clipper and so they need to be booked by next Sunday and used by end of October. Going to head up last week of September and then again in late October. Going to do a winery tour on the first trip and plan on doing that one with a friend from California. The second trip would be a go as we go trip and just have the dates. Often I get to join Markie at the Worldmark property that is right on the inner bay. My first trip is going to have us at the Coast Hotel which is right next door. Got a screamin' online deal for a night and also a dinner voucher for the Blue Crab Grill and have been wanting to try it for some time. Should be a good time for us.

A Day Of "Get To's"

This was a day of "get to's" and so what does that mean? Well, there are things that you want to "get to" and just do not seem to have the time during the week, such as:

• Cooking food ahead including a dozen hard boiled eggs


• Calling old friends and either talking or leaving messages


• Putting DVD's in the binders you got back in January


• Catching up on posts in the blog


• Taking a long and earned nap


• Sorting cards and letters and tossing some and keeping others


• Recycle the old fan


• Breaking down boxes and recycle them


• Making a list of "get to's" for the future


• Sending some long delayed emails


• Checking some old websites you have not been on in a while


• Prep bills to be paid


• Store last month's receipts


• Read a magazine


• Sort stack of books to be recycled


• Ordered a stool, clothes and groceries online

Yes, it has been a very good day indeed!

Horror In Norway

The 32-year-old Norwegian man suspected of Norway's shooting and bomb massacre calls his deeds "atrocious" yet "necessary" and will explain in court, his lawyer said.

Anders Behring Breivik was arrested after Friday's massacre of 85 people — mostly teens — on a tiny forested holiday island that was hosting a summer camp for the youth wing of Norway's ruling Labor party. Breivik was also charged in the bombing of Oslo's government district, which killed seven people hours earlier.

"He has said that he believed the actions were atrocious, but that in his head they were necessary," defense lawyer Geir Lippestad told TV2 news.

Lippestad said his client was willing to explain himself in a court hearing on Monday. The court will decide at the hearing whether to keep the suspect in detention pending his trial.

If convicted on the terrorism charges, he would face a maximum of 21 years in jail, police said.

It was unclear what unleashed the bloodshed, though news agency NTB said Breivik was a member of a gun club and legally owned firearms. At the shooting, police said Breivik carried a Glock pistol and an automatic weapon. Police said Breivik surrendered to authorities and has since confessed.Deputy police chief Roger Andresen declined to comment on the possible motive for the killings, but said: "We have no more information than ... what has been found on (his) own websites, which is that is goes toward the right (wing) and that it is, so to speak, Christian fundamentalist."

Breivik, who liked guns and weight-lifting, belonged to an anti-immigration party and opposed multi-culturalism, Islam and the "cultural Marxists" of the establishment.

A video on the YouTube website promoting a fight against Islam apparently showed pictures of the suspect, wearing a wetsuit and pointing an automatic weapon. The pictures appear at the end of an approximately 12-minute video called "Knights Templar 2083". The video has been removed from the site Saturday afternoon.

While police said Breivik was previously unknown to them, people who knew him said he was quiet, if intense.

"He was rather introverted at school, even though he was a good student," said Michael Tomola, who knew Breivik from the age of 13 to 16 at the school they went to in an Oslo suburb.

"I'm very surprised by this (attack). I had a good impression, although he became very engaged in subjects he cared for. He got very extreme about things he cared for," Tomola told Reuters.

Online activity
His Internet activity traced so far included no calls to violence. Facebook page set up last week included a variety of interests such as hunting and political and stock analysis.

His tastes in music included classical and trance, a hypnotic form of dance music.

A Facebook profile for an Oslo man of that name and age was removed early Saturday. It included a profile photo identical to the one being used by Norwegian media. In the profile, he listed himself as "single," "Christian" and "conservative" and says he is director of Breivik Geofarm. It had listed interests including bodybuilding, conservative politics and freemasonry. The account had no posts.

In comments from 2009 to 2010 to other people's articles on website www.document.no, which calls itself critical of Islam, Breivik criticized European policies of trying to accommodate the cultures of different ethnic groups.

"When did multiculturalism cease to be an ideology designed to deconstruct European culture, traditions, identity and nation-states?" said one his entries, posted on Feb. 2, 2010.

Another entry dated Feb. 16 last year said: "According to two studies, 13 percent of young British Muslims aged between 15 and 25 support al Qaeda ideology."

Breivik wrote he was a backer of the "Vienna School of Thought," which was against multiculturalism and the spread of Islam.

He also wrote he admired Geert Wilders, the populist anti-Islam Dutch politician, for following that school.

Wilders said in a statement on Saturday: "I despise everything he stands for and everything he did."

With Thanks to MSNBC for this information and photos.

One Month Down & Two To Go

It is no secret, I do not like summer. Of the four seasons, it is my least favorite. I really like autumn as the days grow cooler and there is the abundance of color as the leaves turn color. Pumpkins and Halloween make for a lot of fun and the days grow dark earlier. Then we get into the holiday season and winter arrives. What an awesome time as it gets cool and quiet. Things slow down a bit and after the holidays we have a bit of time to catch our breath as the new year shows so much opportunity. A clean slate. Then as February comes to a close there is a yearning to throw open windows and doors and welcome the arrival of spring with all the variations of green. Pastel colors and Easter we all try and think about putting a new face forward. And then plop - summer arrives. Hot, triple digit, sweat, smelly, long days and short tempers. No, I am not a fan, but I get through it and just try and stay cool. Cheers!

We Are So Lucky In Seattle

So this heat wave business is getting really out of control as the country is just getting plastered with record temps left and right. A dome of heat and pressure is sitting over us right now and no relief is in sight. Now mind you that is happening in most of the country and not here in Seattle. Nope, we are so lucky. Here is is the 201st day of the year and they were showing on the weather forecast this morning that in the first 200 days of the year we have been below normal for highs each day 172 of those 200. Mind you we have been at regular only 23 and on 5 days we got above the average high. We have had 1 hour at 80 degrees this year, ONE HOUR! Too amazing for words to be sure.We have had some stunning days of beautiful weather and there have been a lot of days that we want to forget, but come on folks, look east and be glad. Talked to a friend this week and at 11pm in Virginia it was 96 degrees without the heat index figured in! ICK!

All I can say is that I love living in Seattle and I have my AC at the ready to keep me comfortable and relaxed. But I do have to ponder that with all this stress on the power grid in this country, doesn't just make it such a target for some of those crazy people around the world? I do worry at times about how they might take aim and shut down one or more of the power plants and begin a full roll out black out- YIKES! Stay cool and drink water!!

If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Markie...

The week of being a social diva! Who knew. After the Ya-Ya weekend it has been playing catch-up on dinner with friends. Markie comes over and we have a lovely meal of some type of protein and usually a salad. Toss in a few cocktails and a bottle of wine perhaps and poof, a meal is born. Pork or lamb are the usual suspects and it has been known to happen where I call and say, "Break out the steaks, I need beef!" And he does. Today was a complete and yet quite welcome surprise. He did a lovely job and above is a picture of some lovely Tilapia. Granted, they did not look like that, but had been cleaned and were white fillets. Butter, lime spices and poof, we're cooking and loving it. The one thing I am noticing more and more is that I am eating less and less. But no problems there. Still eating 5 times a day and the energy is on the way back.

Wonderful Dinner

Actually it was Wonderful who came over for dinner. He is a dear faerie also know as Jeff Crandall and is an amazing poet who is a master with glass. He has done numerous works that are displayed around my apartment. From the moment you walk in the door (a wall piece to the left) to martini glasses, poetry bottles and a glorious poetry globe piece that glows in the evening. Just a delight to have such magical and wonderful items throughout the apt. You can learn more by visiting his website for Inverse Studio. We enjoy Thai food and good chat. Sadly, when the clock ticked 9, it was time to end the evening as I had a full day ahead tomorrow and needed to get up early.