Refreshing Summer Slushies

Ooh ... I'm super excited, tonight is the 2 hour series finale of Harper's Island. If you all haven't been watching it, you should try to find it in re-runs or on demand. Excellent show. Last night was the season premier of Eureka which is an excellent excellent show! It's super fun and quirky.

On the book front, I was trying to re-read Harry Potter up through Half-blood Prince, before the movie came out next week. That's not going to happen, so I shelved that and decided to re-read 'His Dark Materials' by Pullman. You may all be familiar with 'The Golden Compass' as that's the first in the series and was made into a movie. (Which fanatical christians ruined, btw, with their religious zealotry) The second book is 'The Subtle Knife' and the final book in the series is 'The Amber Spyglass'. All three books are extremely fascinating! In addition and in my not so humble opinion they certainly don't try to sway the reader into becoming an athiest, or disowning Christ, or to engage in Papal bashing (add huge eye roll). All in all it's a very adventurous read, unless of course you're a fanatical christian and think that books paralleling the way Christianity historically was used as a means of controlling the masses and amassing power should be banned -- in which case you should probably stay away from it.

One of my favorite fiction authors, Nora Roberts has a new stand-alone -- I say stand-alone because she writes a lot of trilogies and such -- book out which I need to pick up and will likely read before continuing with 'His Dark Materials'. Her newest book is called 'Black Hills'. Here's the jist ....

A summer at his grandparents’ South Dakota ranch is not eleven-year-old Cooper Sullivan’s idea of a good time. But things are a bit more bearable now that he’s discovered the neighbor girl, Lil Chance, and her homemade batting cage. Even horseback riding isn’t as awful as Coop thought it would be. Each year, with Coop’s annual summer visit, their friendship deepens from innocent games to stolen kisses, but there is one shared experience that will forever haunt them: the terrifying discovery of a hiker’s body.

As the seasons change and the years roll, Lil stays steadfast to her dreams of becoming a wildlife biologist and protecting her family land, while Coop struggles with his father’s demand that he attend law school and join the family firm. Twelve years after they last walked together hand in hand, fate has brought them back to the Black Hills when the people and things they hold most dear need them most.

An investigator in New York, Coop recently left his fast paced life to care for his aging grandparents and the ranch he has come to call home. Though the memory of his touch still haunts her, Lil has let nothing stop her dream of opening the Chance Wildlife Refuge, but something . . . or someone . . . has been keeping a close watch. When small pranks and acts of destruction escalate into the heartless killing of Lil’s beloved cougar, recollections of an unsolved murder in these very hills have Coop springing to action to keep Lil safe.
Lil and Coop both know the natural dangers that lurk in the wild landscape of the Black Hills. But now they must work together to unearth a killer of twisted and unnatural instincts who has singled them out as prey.

And the funny!

Due to the climate of political correctness now pervading America, Kentuckians, Tennesseans and West Virginians will no longer be referred to as 'HILLBILLIES.'

You must now refer to them as APPALACHIAN-AMERICANS .

And furthermore

HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT WOMEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:

1. She is not a 'BABE' or a 'CHICK' - She is a ' BREASTED AMERICAN.'
2. She is not 'EASY' - She is 'HORIZONTALLY ACCESSIBLE.'
3. She is not a 'DUMB BLONDE' - She is a 'LIGHT-HAIRED DETOUR OFF THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY.'
4. She has not 'BEEN AROUND' - She is a 'PREVIOUSLY-ENJOYED COMPANION.'
5. She does not 'NAG' you - She becomes ' VERBALLY REPETITIVE.'
6. She is not a 'TWO-BIT HOOKER' - She is a ' LOW COST PROVIDER.'

HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT MEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:

1. He does not have a 'BEER GUT' - He has developed a 'LIQUID GRAIN STORAGE FACILITY.'
2. He is not a 'BAD DANCER' - He is ' OVERLY CAUCASIAN.'
3. He does not 'GET LOST ALL THE TIME' - He ' INVESTIGATES ALTERNATIVE DESTINATIONS.'
4. He is not 'BALDING' - He is in 'FOLLICLE REGRESSION.'
5. He does not act like a 'TOTAL ASS' - He develops a case of RECTAL-CRANIAL INVERSION.'
6. It's not his 'CRACK' you see hanging out of his pants - It's 'REAR CLEAVAGE.

HEHEHE I'm sure you've all heard these before ... but the best ones bear repeating!

ஜ~§Quote of the Day§~ஜ

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
- Leo Tolstoy

ஜ~§The Question Of The Day§~ஜ

What fictional character do you most identify with?

ஜ~§The Word Of The Day§~ஜ

Limnology

PRONUNCIATION:
(lim-NOL-uh-jee)

MEANING:
noun: The study of bodies of fresh water, such as lakes and ponds.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek limne (lake) + -logy (study). Limnophilous, the word to describe an organism living in lakes, pools, etc., has four consecutive letters from the alphabet.

USAGE:
"Retired professor and head of the department of limnology, Dr VJ Druve, pointed out that the state is abundant in water resources with high potential for inland fish production."

ஜ~§Recipe of the Day§~ஜ

Melon Slush

Ingredients:
5 ice cubes, slightly crushed
4 cups cubed ripe cantaloupe
1/4 cup fresh orange juice

Preparation:
Place crushed ice in a blender. Add the melon and orange juice. Blend until slushy-smooth, about 10 seconds. Serve slush immediately in glasses with slices of melon on the side.

Super yummy on these hot summer days and cheap cheap cheap!

Brightest Blessings,
~Surry~