Gondorbunny's Musings From the White Tower

It's Been Ages!

2009-02-07T20:18:28Z

Hello! I know I haven't posted for a REALLY long time, but it's not because I don't love you guys. Honestly! Real life has played hell with me in the past year, but I have a feeling 2009 will be much better.

For those of you that still kept me on their friends' lists, despite my lack of communication...you guys are the best. Thanks for hanging in there. I will try to do better in the coming year. Lots of fandom shifts have taken place, even though I am still loyal to my men of Gondor and always will be. So I hope to have more to contribute soon.

Hope everyone on my friends' list is doing great. I'll be in touch soon.

From Aflon

2008-01-08T00:17:42Z

Couldn't ask for better than this!

The Candy Heart You Should Give Is:

To: Boromir
From: gondorbunny

What Candy Heart Should You Give?

gondorbunny @ 2008-01-02T18:01:00

2008-01-02T23:07:51Z

Taken from aflon

The Recipe For Gondorbunny

3 parts Elegance

2 parts Flirtation

1 part Energy

Splash of Daring

Sip slowly on the beach

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-24T16:56:14Z

I just wanted to wish everyone on my f-list a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! All the best to everyone in 2008. :-)

I also want to wish mistressofrohan the happiest of birthdays tomorrow as well. This is for you, sweetie. :-)

Hi all

2007-10-15T22:11:15Z

No, I haven't disappeared off the face of the Earth, I promise. :) It feels really odd not even going near my computer for 3 days when I'm not even on vacation or anything!

The weekend was pretty busy. Saturday afternoon was spent at the Laishley Park Boat Show, which is an annual thing here in Punta Gorda. There's craft tents and food booths from local restaurants and a performance by professional jet boaters and waterskiers doing tricks and things like that. They also have lots of boats for sale and some of them are just breathtaking. I don't know much about boats, and I definitely need a serious dose of Dramamine before embarking on one, but I can certainly admire the fancy yachts with their party decks and indoor game rooms and big screen TV's and so forth. Ah, the Good Life. :)

Then yesterday was spent in the morning with Sunday's usual extravaganza, The Great Sunday Housecleaning and Laundry Fest. Almost as fun as the Boat Show, but without the funnel cakes.

Then came the weekend's main event....The Patriots vs. the Cowboys. What a fabulous game. A nail biter all the way up to the last quarter. In the end, however, the Pats were victorious and now we're only one of two NFL teams that are unbeaten so far this season! Go us!

So that was my weekend. I hope everyone enjoyed theirs. I'm going to try and catch up on my f-list and comment where comments are due, but it might take a while!

Monday Reflections

2007-10-08T22:22:49Z

Technically, the calendar says that it's the beginning of October, but this past weekend has me seriously doubting that. It was sunny, yes. But hot and muggy. And hot. And...and...muggy. And...

Well, you get the picture.

On the plus side, I didn't hear about anyone dying or nearly dying in the heat down here, unlike those poor people at the marathon up in Chicago. Yikes!

I've actually made a bit of a start on clearing out one of our spare bedrooms. When we moved into this house in July, we just kind of treated the two spare rooms like gigantic walk-in closets. Everything that we didn't have an immediate place for was unceremoniously dumped there. The upside is that we can just shut those doors and forget about the disaster. The downside is that we occasionally DO have to find something in one of those rooms, and what should be a simple enough procedure turns into a 20 minute ordeal.

So I finally felt inspired enough (or fed up enough) about it this past weekend to at least start trying to organize some of the stuff. Lots of the boxes are full of clothes that we obviously don't miss much because we haven't even thought of wearing them for almost 3 months now. With a Goodwill conveniently about 3 minutes away, I think a big donation is coming their way in the very near future. I'm just going to work on one room at a time and maybe....by the time all is said and done...I'll really feel as thought I accomplished something. Who knows?

Other than that, the weekend was fairly uneventful and my work day today was pretty damned boring.

Hmmm...Methinks I should have quit this post while I was ahead. :-)

Monday again??

2007-10-01T21:49:12Z

Hard to believe yet another Monday has come and gone, and behind it yet another weekend. I hope everyone enjoyed theirs.

I went to the theater last night and saw Eastern Promises, the new David Cronenberg film starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. I must say, I was very, very impressed. I'm not normally the sort of person that goes for realistic violence (as opposed to stylized or obviously exaggerated violence of the type in films like Kill Bill or Sin City), but this film managed to be shocking at the same time as it was engrossing and dramatic and even a bit sweet in parts.

Anyway, I don't want to give away any plot details, all I have to say is this should be seen if you have any interest at all in good movies and aren't afraid of a bit of blood (okay, in the case of a couple of scenes, a whole LOT of blood) or a couple of glimpses of Viggo Mortensen's woo-woo. :)

Other than that, the weekend was uneventful. I'm looking forward to relaxing tonight and watching the Patriots perform their 4th ass-kicking in a row (my apologies in advance to any Cincinnati fans out there!)

x-posted to Insanejournal

Monday Thoughts

2007-09-24T22:12:49Z

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Here's how I spent parts of mine:

My company is a big sponsor of Big Brothers/Big Sisters and on Saturday night that organization hosted a benefit dinner and live auction. My bosses bought up 5 tables (at $600 a pop!) and posted on the company message board saying that anyone from our office interested in attending could go for free.

Free food?? Needless to say, hubby and I signed right up! :)

It turned out to be really fun. It was a "Decades" party, meaning that you were encouraged to dress as whatever decade you chose. There were some really cute and creative outfits there, including two guys dressed as Elvis.

I went in one of my vintage 60's "dolly bird" slip dresses. Sorry for the crappiness of the picture, but taking a pic of myself in my bathroom mirror with a camera phone doesn't yield the best results. One of these days I really will invest in a real digital camera of quality. But you get the general idea, anyway.

Then Sunday, of course, was football day. My Patriots redeemed themselves for the second week in a row by proving that they don't NEED no stinking secret videotaping in order to kick some major ass!

Hmmm...Sounds like a good excuse for another pic of sexy beast quarterback Tom Brady.

He's just so cute! :)

Weepy meme

2007-09-17T21:07:33Z

Name five films that have you in tears almost every time you view them, and the scene that causes those tears in each one.

NOTE: Try to refrain from listing animal-related films. We ALL know those make us cry. :)

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THESE FILMS*

1. Fellowship of the Ring

Bori's death scene, of course. I just can't ever get used to it. So brave. His last thoughts were
on nothing but saving the hobbits and the city that he loves so much.

2. Return of the King

There's many tear-inducing moments in this one, but the one that hits me most is Frodo's
departure at the end. Total snuggly hobbit weep-fest. Then when Frodo steps onto the boat
and sheds all of his pain and sorrow and becomes almost "reborn" again. *squeak*

3. Terms of Endearment

The last two scenes with Debra Winger. The one where she's having the talk with her boys
and then the final, very quiet scene where she and her mom share that last silent moment.
Total over-the-top film angst at its finest.

4. The Lion King

Yes, I am a sad person who cries over cartoons. So sue me. :) But the opening scene where
they play "Circle of Life" and show all of the animals going to see the new king...there's just
so much emotion in that scene. (I suppose technically this could be seen as an "animal movie",
but since it's animated I didn't think it counted 100%. You be the judge.)

5. Titanic

Yes, I can hear the groans now. :) It's just that scene where Rose is being lowered in the lifeboat
and is torn between staying with Jack or being practical and playing it safe. Then when she jumps
from the lifeboat and runs through the ship to meet back up with Jack again...oh, every romantic
bone in my body just says "awwwww" all at the same time! :)

On this sad anniversary

2007-09-11T22:35:03Z

This is probably the most moving and heartfelt song I ever heard recorded about this tragedy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvj6zdWLUuk&mode=related&search=

x-posted to Insanejournal

Discretion is certainly NOT Madonna's middle name

2007-09-11T22:05:37Z

Got to give her credit though. Still frisky even in her 40's!

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/15375200.html

Sunday observations

2007-09-09T20:37:35Z

I hope everyone has had a good weekend!

I went out to breakfast this morning, and when the waitress dropped off my bill on the table, this actual phrase was printed along the bottom:

If you notice that any item that you ordered has not been
added to your check, please let the management know right
away, and that item will be FREE.

Um...Excuse me, but if an item you ordered hasn't been added to your check, wouldn't you get that item FREE anyway? o_O

In other news...both the Patriots and the Packers won their respective season opener games today, so both hubby and I are happy campers. :)

Quirky meme

2007-09-03T01:04:03Z

I was tagged by mythicdove for this one, so here goes!

List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself. Tag seven people to do the same. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag whoever wants to do it.

1. I need to have at least one cup of coffee in the morning or I develop a most annoying headache.

2. Although I love all of my animals, I still consider myself much more a "cat person" than a "dog person".

3. I like foods that make a lot of other people I know say "yuck", such as sushi, chicken livers, and rabbit meat.

4. I am very slow to get angry...unless someone insults my intelligence. That is guaranteed to fire me up right away.

5. I have not been seen in my natural haircolor (dark brown) in ten years.

6. I become almost paralyzed with fear over spiders (large ones, mainly) and heights (of the climbing variety. I'm fine in airplanes.)

7. I am very close with my parents and the idea that they won't be around forever simply terrifies me at times.

Most of the people on my f-list have already been tagged by this, but I will name a couple that I don't think have done it yet. mistressofrohan, sally_simpson76, and bluespirit_star.

X-posted to Insanejournal.

It was 10 years ago today

2007-08-31T14:09:34Z

And the world still mourns her loss.

A Soapbox Moment

2007-08-29T21:57:28Z

Are you tired of receiving "chain emails"?

You know, those emails you get every day telling you that you must forward it to "X" many of your friends or else something bad will happen?

Then this is for you!

http://info.org.il/irrelevant/may02-smilepop-soapbox4.swf

gondorbunny @ 2007-08-28T18:17:00

2007-08-28T22:19:19Z

August is finally drawing to a close, which leaves me partly relieved and partly apprehensive.

Relieved because the end of August in Florida means that the end of 95+ degree temperatures is actually in sight.

Apprehensive because September is the month that people's minds tend to start turning toward *horrified gasp for effect* the Holidays!! I am certainly in NO way prepared to discuss those just yet.

Also, my ongoing car woes continue. I ditched the rental car today after keeping it for 6 days, and my car is now running again, but it looks like a new starter is on the horizon next. *cries*

On a happier note, the new autobiography by Pattie Boyd was released today (see userpic). I'll have to wait until payday on Friday before I can get a copy, but I've been looking forward to reading it ever since I heard rumors of it's writing over a year ago. I don't expect it to be the next Great American (or in this case, English) Novel, but I'm sure it will be an interesting read.

So that's my thoughts of the day. You may wake up now and continue on with your evening/afternoon/morning or whatever it is in your particular time zone at the moment you read this. :)

x-posted to Insanejournal

Sunday Eye Candy

2007-08-26T20:20:02Z

Just hunting around the net on a lazy Sunday and decided to post some lovelies that I came across.

All pics courtesy of the site www.josh-holloway.com

Does this man know how to be anything else but smoking hot??

Update on car situation

2007-08-22T21:38:03Z

Well, I just arrived home from work in my shiny little rental car. How did it come to this, you ask? It happened kind of like this:

Husband calls me at work with the news that between him and the auto guy, they had discovered that the problem with our car was a little thingy called a solonoid switch. The place said they could order the part and have it by Friday. Total cost: Only $38.

Major relief on my part. I was anticipating much worse!

Okay cool. Is the car okay to drive short distances until then?

Sure!

Half hour later I receive a second phone call from the spousal unit.

Guess what? The car died in the middle of traffic. Everything is dead. The battery won't even click. The car won't even come out of gear. He had to have a cop help push the car into a nearby bank parking lot.

Oh just beautiful. So, being the dutiful wife that I am, I call a tow truck to collect both my car and my husband and take them both home. Total cost: $60.

And of course, the part we need won't be in until Friday. So what does that mean, boys and girls? A rental car for 2 days! Total cost including initial deposit to be refunded upon the return of the vehicle: $250.

So I'm already out $310 and I still haven't paid for the part yet! It may not be the $500+ I was anticipating, but it's getting there!

I normally don't drink alcohol during the work week, but am I having a beer right now? You bet your ass I am!

x-posted to Insanejournal.

Ugh

2007-08-22T17:37:58Z

Sometimes I wonder if having a car is worth all the bother. Just when I think I have all my finances in order, my husband informs me that while using the car today, the car starting feeling "rattle-ly" and the *check engine* and *traction control* lights came on. (As you can see, my darling hubby is NOT very mechanically inclined.) :)

So off he goes to the shop to get things checked out as I sit at my desk at work, waiting for The Phone Call and envisioning my bank account being lighter by about $500 or so.

*big sigh*

Moving to a city and using public transportation for the rest of my life is looking more and more appealing all the time.

x-posted to Insanejournal

Here goes my cowboy obsession again

2007-08-21T00:33:29Z

Viggo Mortensen did it in Hidalgo and Alatriste.

Sean Bean did it in The Big Empty.

David Wenham did it in Dust.

Now I'm going to have Russell Crowe and Christian Bale doing the scruffy cowboy thing in the same film??

http://mcwindows.arcostream.com/media/arco/lionsgate/streams/windowsmedia/310_to_yuma/310_to_yuma_1a_700.wmv

Pardon me while I squee.

x-posted to InsaneJournal

Another borrowed meme

2007-08-13T22:44:53Z

This one I eagerly grabbed from aflon

1. List five celebrities you would have sex with without even asking questions.
2. Put all of them IN ORDER of your lust for them. (Five to one, one is the hottest.)
3. Say which movie/show/thing it was that hooked you.
4. Supply photos for said people
5. Tag five people!

#5. Karl Urban. First got hooked on him as Eomer in The Two Towers/Return of the King. Rough. Untamed. And all that wild hair!

#4. Antonio Banderas, especially circa early 90's. Desperado was the film that created lust at first sight.

#3. Eric Bana. As soon as I saw Troy, that was it. I was hooked.

#2. Josh Holloway. Like most everyone else, my first sight of him was in Lost.

#1. Sean Bean...most noteably as Boromir. My number one from day one. :)

Tagging: Whoever wants to give it a whirl.

X-posted to IJ.

One word meme

2007-08-13T22:02:28Z

Borrowed this one from wwowie. You can only use one word for each response.

1. Where is your cell phone?
purse

2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend?
husband

3. Your hair?
frazzled :)

4. Work?
often

5. Your father?
wonderful

6. Your favorite thing?
chocolate!

7. Your dream last night?
forgotten

8. Your favorite drink?
water

10. The room you're in?
bedroom

11. Your pet?
nearby

12. Your fears?
limited

13. What do you want to be in 10 years?
wealthier

14. Where did you hang out last night?
neighbors'

15. What you're not good at?
dancing

16. Eyebrow rings on the opposite sex?
scary

17. One of your wish list items?
camera

18. Where you grew up?
Massachusetts

19. The last thing you did?
change

20. What you're wearing?
jammies

21. what aren't you wearing?
shoes

22. The website GoofyAuctions.com (filled with eBay spoofs)?
unknown

23. Your computer?
necessity

24. Your life?
agreeable

25. Your mood?
calm

26. Missing?
sleep

27. What are you thinking about right now?
thunderstorm

28. Your car?
convertible

29. Your work?
decent

30. Your summer?
sauna

31. Your relationship status is?
married

32. Your favorite color?
green

33. When is the last time you laughed?
today

34. Last time you cried?
yesterday

35. School?
finished

This may be old news.

2007-08-10T18:39:30Z

I'd never heard anyone mention this before, so I wonder if anyone else had heard about it?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0961079/

Really sad story

2007-08-09T16:05:56Z

A friend that works alongside me was speaking to her 25-year old daughter on the phone earlier this morning. The daughter and her boyfriend were at the airport, waiting for a flight out of Tampa, FL.

As they stood in the gate area, looking out the window, they noticed a small gathering of people on the tarmac below, flanked by military officials, as a plane pulled up. As the daughter and her boyfriend watched, the caskets of fallen soldiers from Iraq began to be offloaded from the cargo hold of the plane. An impromptu ceremony was performed by the miitary officials and the people with them, which were obviously family members of the fallen soldiers.

The daughter told my friend that she and her boyfriend could only stand to watch for a little while. It was just too sad a sight. The daughter said it really makes the reality of the war more immediate when you see something like that. It really hits home.

All we can do is continue to support the men and women that lay down their lives every day, and pray that they can be brought home soon...and NOT just in caskets in the cargo holds of airplanes.

This is really getting scary

2007-08-08T22:05:02Z

One of my f-listers brought to my attention this absolutely frightening example of ignorance on the part of some LJ staffers. Pull up a comfy chair and get yourself a drink. This is a long mess!

http://community.livejournal.com/lj_biz/241884.html?thread=12454876