I’m feeling the urge to hit iTunes and buy a bunch of ’80s tunes…. like the above-mentioned song from Blondie.

All the steampunk talk is making me want to redecorate my bedroom/office/sitting room (yes, I cram a lot of use into one room) in a more Victorian style. Some of my furniture would work fine, I think. My bed and TV cabinet, for instance. My desk and most of my bookcases, way too streamlined. Need to frou-frou them up….

There is absolutely nothing on tonight. No new Eureka, no new Psych. Nada. Zip. Zilch. The downside of holiday weekends. But, hey, I’ll be able to catch up with recorded shows, right? Right!

Read through and tweaked eight pages last night. Some of it’s quite good, I think. Some other parts… not so much.

Reading: Not quite finished with Decked yet. Should finish it up tonight and move on to the next book in the series.

You all know I’ve become fascinated by the idea of steampunk. But I’m a total amateur compared to others. Some people try to live a steampunk life.

Electro Iconograph (it’s actually a case for a digital camera)

A media room that looks like Captain Nemo’s Nautilus

A portable difference engine (I’m not going to tell you what this one is, you have to see it for yourself. And I want one!!!)

Fun Leverage last night. Favorite line (Sophie giving advice to Parker): “Say nothing and trust the diamond.” Which makes very little sense out of context, I know, but it was really funny in the show.

Tonight, the only thing on is Special Ops Mission.

Read through and tweaked about seven pages last night.

Reading: Last night I read Indigo Dying by Susan Wittig Albert. Another good installment in the China Bayles series. And then I started reading Decked by Carol Higgins Clark. I’ve read it before but it’s been awhile. And now I have my very own personal copy! The first four books in the Regan Reilly series were released last year with special pricing. I only discovered this recently, however, and snapped them up.

I saw the above phrase in a newsletter I get from Mother Nature Network. I was a bit startled, to say the least. Butterflies dangerous? Huh? But it turns out The Dangerous World of Butterflies is the title of a new book.

Well, we got the legs attached to my desktop (which previously sat atop two file cabinets) yesterday. The downside, it’s now all kind of wobbly. Not sure how we’re going to solve that problem. Now to work on actually rearranging the furniture….

I don’t want to go into details in case some of you haven’t seen it yet, but I found last night’s W13 kind of disturbing. And not in a good way.

But tonight it’s Wipeout, Ghost Hunters and Leverage.

Read through and tweaked seven pages last night.

Reading: Finished up Medusa and started, barely, The Ghost and the Femme Fatale by Alice Kimberly. Bookstore owner Penelope McClure is once again solving a murder with the help of ghostly P.I. Jack Shepard.

So, Mom and I have been discussing my bedroom. Yet again. Frankly, I’m tired of living in limbo. I have so many ideas of what I want to do in here but have yet to actually implement any of them. It’s frustrating. Anyway, we’ve been talking about window treatments. So I’ve been trying to find styles I like and just for kicks did a search on Amazon for “pink”. You would be amazed at the products that come in pink these days! Kitchen appliances, gardening tools (even garden hoses!), in addition to the usual sheets & towels. Anyway, I think I found a style of curtains I like which Mom should be able to make easily with sheets. But what I’m really searching for on Amazon is pink laptop cases. *g*

Tonight on TV, we have a new episode of Primeval which I’ll be recording because I’ve fallen behind on the series. Plus we have a new Doctor Who expanded episode (75 minutes vs 60).

Wrote about one page last night. Whew! I’m glad I managed to write that much.

Reading: Finished up The Wizard of London and now I’m reading Cat Breaking Free by Shirley Rousseau Murphy. I’ve read books before where cats are main characters (the Midnight Louie series and the Mrs. Murphy series). In these, the cats do talk to each other and to other animals. But this series has cats that actually talk in human speech! They’re Very Special cats. I was kind of startled when I first realized that. But now it’s kind of fun.

And other pieces of furniture. We’re shifting my desk around again. Sort of. Or at least we have an idea of where to move it, but not sure if it’ll work. I wish we could come up with a plan that works for everything I need. I keep thinking a professional interior designer could help, but they’d probably tell me I need to get rid of half my books. At which point I’d have to hit them. Ahem.

Well, the weather dude said we’d have bad storms last night. They were all well to the south of us. Now they’re saying the same for tonight. It’s getting old, Ma Nature! Give it a rest already!!!

The only thing on tonight is Stargate: Ark of Truth which is the first SG-1 movie after the show ended. It went straight to DVD, so I’m glad I finally get to see it.

I wrote three pages last night!

Reading: Now I’m reading Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer. I was kind of iffy about Artemis when I first started the series but I’m really liking it now.

So, my old mattress was pretty thick. Much thicker than its predecessor. So I had to get deep pocket sheets for it. Now, I prefer flannel sheets even in the summer. Don’t ask me why. I just do. *g* Anyway, this new mattress is even thicker than the one I had before. So my so-called deep pocket sheets just barely fit! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find extra deep pocket sheets??? Geez. Unless, of course, I want to pay astronomical amounts for them. Which I don’t. So you get to listen to me gripe instead. Aren’t you lucky? *g*

Watching the Hurricane Gustav coverage this morning. Looks like it maybe isn’t quite as bad as expected which is good. But I couldn’t believe the idiot I saw online who was basically laughing at the New Orleans residents panicking. I don’t think they were panicking. I think they were smart to be cautious. It’s a pity the morons who laugh at others’ misfortunes can’t be forced to live through their own personal catastrophes. Or just be shipped off the planet to some unknown destination where they’re forced to survive with no modern amenities. Hah! Not that I’m vindictive or anything. We could even make a whole new version of Survivor out of it!

Tonight on TV, we have Deal Or No Deal (according to the ads, we have a million dollar winner tonight), Into the Unknown With Josh Bernstein, and the season finale of The Middleman.

Reading: Now I’m reading The Double Disguise by Frances K. Judd. This is a Kay Tracey Mystery which is another Stratemeyer Syndicate series. At Brandy’s request, I’m going to work up a post about the Stratemeyers later on today.

So there’s a show I watch on HGTV called Design on a Dime. But why is it called that when their budget is $1000?

Well, it’s gotten hot and even more humid here this week. I thrive so much better in a desert environment. Should have stayed there. But hind sight is always 20/20. Besides, if I’d stayed in Arizona I wouldn’t have met some of the cool people I know in Austin TX.

There’s a new Hallmark Mystery Movie on tonight that stars Jane Seymour. It’s called Dear Prudence and it’s about a household hints columnist who gets involved in a murder. Looks fun!

I wrote almost two pages last night. Yay, me!

Reading: Now I’m reading Killer Riff by Sheryl Anderson. The Molly Forrester series is always fun.

In archaeology news, we have this tidbit:

Huge statue of Roman ruler found

Today we’re going to talk decorating stuff. I’ve been using a cedar chest as an ottoman/coffee table. But I really need it next to my desk to hold my printer and stereo. So we’d been keeping an eye out for a good ottoman that wasn’t outrageously expensive. My folks found one yesterday and bought it. It was less than half the cost of the others the store had. Probably because it’s burnt orange. *g* It is the ugliest color! But Mom’s pretty handy with her sewing machine, so she’s going to make a slipcover for it out of some white with mint green pinstripes sheets. Of course, I’m still going to need a little table to set my laptop on when I’m using it while sitting on the loveseat. But we’ll worry about that later.

And I’m also getting a new mattress & box springs. The bed I have just isn’t working for me anymore. I hate spending all this money, but I also hate being in pain and not sleeping well. So.

Oh, I just saw a commercial on VH1 Classic that they’ll be doing “80 hours of 80s music” this weekend! And can you believe this weekend is Labor Day?! How the heck did that happen???

Not a lot on tonight except a new episode of MythBusters. Everything else is either reruns, politics, or tennis. Ugh. So I’ll hang out with the MB gang and help them determine if the Moon landing was faked. I’ll also catch up on recorded shows.

So what did you guys think of last night’s Eureka? It wasn’t quite as funny as the previews had led me to believe which was both bad and good. I thought we could use a little comic relief after last week’s episode. But last night’s was a good episode, anyway.

I actually managed to write some new material on the contemporary fantasy last night! Go, me!

Reading: Finished up Stephanie Tyler‘s Navy SEAL book. I adore her Navy SEALs. Now I’m reading A Crazy Little Thing Called Death by Nancy Martin.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love The Middleman? Last night they had a ghost episode. Involving a sorority at 55 Ray Parker Jr. Avenue. In case you don’t get the joke (or are way too young to remember), Ray Parker Jr. was the guy who sang the theme song from Ghostbusters. *g*

Tonight is Eureka!!!

I was going to rant about the city council in the town where we used to live. They wanted to annex some folks who live outside the city limits. However, you’ll be spared because the city council meeting was last night and they saw the error of their ways when the meeting room was packed with all the people opposed to the annexation.

Worked some on my room yesterday. Got one of the smaller, folding bookcases moved to its new location. Now I have to move another to its new location, then I can start getting all the books better organized.

Did some more work on the contemporary fantasy. Tried to work on names for some of the multitude of characters. Well, they actually already have names but not necessarily ones they use in public. *g*

Reading: I’m reading the last book in the inspirational mystery series by Mindy Starns Clark. This one is called The Buck Stops Here.

My mom thought she’d found me a good storage ottoman at Target yesterday. I need one badly because the cedar chest just really isn’t cutting it. Anyway, the parents went to buy it but they wisely opened it up and sniffed inside first. Good move. Mom said it reeked. See, I have major problems with chemical smells in furniture made with MDF and/or pressed wood. This tends to make all my furniture purchases more expensive because I have to buy hardwood. It’s frustrating. So, backup and regroup.

I meant to say yesterday and forgot, re Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes, you guys may well be right. I’d forgotten how good he was as Charlie Chaplin.

Happy birthday to me!!! And happy birthday to Patrick Stewart, Harrison Ford, and Cheech Marin! They should all three do a movie together so I can enjoy it on our collective birthday.

So, I watched The Cat’s Meow last night. I was rather surprised by how much I didn’t like it. Eddie Izzard as Charlie Chaplin was an interesting choice, though. And the sets and clothing and cars were fabulous!

Tonight we have the season premiere of the final season of Foyle’s War. It took me awhile to get into this series, but now I’m sorry that it’s almost over. Also tonight is In Plain Sight.

I may have to take a break again from the wonderful world of blog hopping. I won’t stop posting here, of course. But until I find a better solution for working online I need to cut back. Now we’ll see if I actually succeed… (For those of you coming in late to the show, I’m having problems with my hands.)

Reading: I’m still reading Night Calls by Katharine Eliska Kimbriel. It’s such a good book!