Up, Up and Away!

When the movie Up came out a few years ago, I loved the whimsical idea of filling your home with bright balloons and floating off on new adventures. It turns out I wasn't the only one who was captivated by this idea. Some of the brilliant guys at National Geographic decided to give it a try and they succeeded!



One of the things I found the most incredible about this was the size of each individual balloon. Although they were painted (covered?) to look like regular latex balloons, they were actually weather balloons which were each as tall as a person. I think taking the time to make the real house look as cheerful as the movie one made it even cooler!

Seeing this made me wonder what other movie scenes I would like to see in real life. I think a lot of the buildings and sets in Monsters Inc would be adorable! Any other suggestions?

Separation Anxiety

I talk a lot about my dogs on here, but not much about my other pets. The Dude and I also have a cockatoo (Molly) and two rabbits (Silver and Littlefoot). We adopted the rabbits about 3 years ago under the condition that they would stay together. Apparently rabbits usually do not do well if they are caged with the same gender, but even though Littlefoot and Silver are both (neutered) males, they were best buds, and have been ever since we've had them.


That is, until about two months ago. In the period of less than five days, Silver went from looking healthy to having a huge bald spot on his head. We took him to the vet who admitted he'd never seen anything like it and gave us some steroid cream to try out. While we were using the cream, Littlefoot and Silver had to be separated so that Littlefoot wouldn't lick the medicated cream off Silver's head and a) render it ineffective or b) poison himself since it's not meant to be eaten. To our delight, within two weeks the hair was almost completely grown back and we were able to put the rabbits back together. Until a few days ago, when a bald spot appeared again. The vet had mentioned that one possibility was that the dominant rabbit (which is definitely Littlefoot) could have been plucking/overgrooming Silver and causing the problem. Now that it's happening a second time, it seems more likely that it's a grooming problem and not a health problem. We're looking into a new hutch that keeps them separated but I am devastated to have to split them up as they have always seemed to enjoy each others' company. We're giving them one more try...fingers crossed that it works!

And the Award Goes To...

I didn't watch the Oscars last week but I did think it would be fun to do my own Oscars for reading. So, for the first time ever, let me introduce the O.S.C.A.R. (Online Statuette Commemorating Alicia's Reading). I am limiting the selection to books that I read in 2010, but they could have been written any time. For some of them I will include nominees as well as a winner.

Best Actress (Female Protagonist)
Lady Margaret Beaufort, The Red Queen
Also nominated:
Elv, The Story Sisters (my review)
Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games trilogy
Annette Vallon, Annette Vallon (my review)

Best Actor (Male Protagonist)
Henry Lee, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Also nominated:
William Marshal, The Greatest Knight and The Scarlet Lion (my reviews)

Best Supporting Actress
Minny Jackson, The Help (my review)
Also nominated:
Geillis Duncan, the Outlander series (my review)

Best Supporting Actor
Martin, Her Fearful Symmetry (my review)
Also nominated:
Henrik Vanger, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Documentary (Non-fiction)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot (my review)
Also nominated:
Born to Run, Christopher McDougall
Superfreakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (my review)

Best Animated Film (Young Adult/Children's Literature)
The Princess Academy, Shannon Hale (my review)
Also nominated:
Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, Adrienne Kress (my review)
The Uglies trilogy, Scott Westerfeld (my review)
Odd and the Frost Giants, Neil Gaiman (my review)

Best Costumes (Best Period Fiction)
The Greatest Knight, Elizabeth Chadwick (my review)
Also nominated:
The Red Queen, Philippa Gregory
The Scarlet Lion (my review)

Have any category suggestions I should add? You may notice I didn't include a "Best Picture/Best Book" category; it was just too hard to choose! I am sure I missed some great books and characters because I didn't do a good job keeping track of what I read last year, but I'm keeping track this year so next year's O.S.C.A.R.s will have an even more exciting field!

An Exciting Rendezvous

Sarah put up an excellent post showing how the Shuttle and International Space Station rendezvous. It's chock full of pictures and behind the scenes info. Check it out!

STS-133 Rendezvous

When You're Not Looking

I think most of us, at one time or another, wondered if our toys came to life when we left the room. It's a premise which has been covered in The Velveteen Rabbit, Toy Story, and many more books and movies. I know I always wondered about it. One thing I never wondered about, though, is what my books do when I leave the room. Apparently they are quite busy!

Best in Show

The Westminster Kennel Club dog show was held recently and the winner was a Scottish Deerhound named Foxcliffe Hickory Wind. She beat out such tough competitors as Lennoxlove Susqudilla's Mini Cooper, Firethorn And Sandpiper Easy On The Eyes, Sunseeker Pirate's Code, and Clussexx Last Lion. No, I did not make any of those up; they all won Best in Breed.

So, in honor of this prestigious event, I would like to introduce two of the four legged members of my family with their new, more honorrific names.

Lady Jowlriffic Layla Fencejumper

Master Maximilian Doofball the Bestraddled

I have no doubt that they'll be turning heads at their next competition!

Please Take Me Back

So you may have noticed that I haven't posted in, well, over a month. Sorry. I thought on this Valentine's Day all about love I'd beg you to take me back if I promise to post more regularly. And to send you flowers and chocolates. (well, maybe not that second part) I will also hold true to the spirit of begging to get you back by making lavish promises, or in this case, future blog posts.

Here's what I have coming up:
Lots of book reviews: highlights include Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures, Ree Drummond's (aka Pioneer Woman) Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, and Elizabeth Kostova's the Swan Thieves.
Pictures of my pets being cute: lately Max and Layla have started snuggling together in between sparring sessions and it's adorable!
Pirates: Arrr matey, I saw the pirate exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences.

And to bring this post full circle, here is my awesome Valentine's Day card from the Dude. Yes, that's a pirate. Apparently he found the card in the children's section. He knows me well!