One day I'll roll in a

classic '64 Pontiac GTO...it's just ....HOT! All that muscle under the hood...mmmmmm! and I bet you thought I'd go for a 50's classic- I would love a classic 1940's Chevy pickup however! I do own a 1940 Chevy Super Deluxe, all original, not running and in need of restoration- I'm hoping my son or daughter will lean towards being a gear head and want to restore her, meanwhile she sits and waits. this photo is of what she COULD look like,  right now she's black original paint, not so much rust...the potential is awesome, financially- our restoration funds go towards the house.  Ah well, someday!(pin up by artist Gil Elvgren) (and yes, of course that's me tinkering!)

The next scene features

I signed up with an online service called Plinky   http://www.plinky.com 

They provide writing prompts (daily!) for Bloggers, Facebookers, Twitter people, etc. Pretty interesting, thought I'd try it out for some fun. Not that I'm lacking in things to go on and on about, but maybe you all would like to read something intelligent, thought provoking or different than my regular meanderings! 

(Image of Pin Up by artist Gil Elvgren)

"If all the world's a stage, and we're merely players, how does your next scene begin?"  The next scene features....me, (of course!) immersed in creating my art.......I need more hours (and energy!) in the day!

Pin Ups

"Taking A Lacing" Pin Up by Artist Edward D'Ancona

So I've been asked by a few readers (who don't know me as well as some of you do) "So what's the deal with the Pin Ups?" Well, here's a bit of an explanation: I love the 1940's and 50's era. Since I was a little kid. I think vintage Pin Ups are beautiful, sexy and yes, tasteful.  The artists were (and are, those who are still living that is) very talented and knew how to bring the canvas to life. The servicemen totally appreciated the art in WWII. (Nothing against the modern Pin Up artists that are out there, but I like retro/vintage). It's my alter ego- yes, a Pin Up Model. I'd be one of Gil Elvgren's (He's amongst one of my very favorite pin up artists).  Miss Pixie Pants. That's her/my picture on this Blog. (My profile Pic is actually a Runci not an Elvgren- but their styles are very similar.) Pixie Pants Designs is the name of my art business- I make Pin Up pins to wear (much altered and embellished) as well as altered art cards featuring Pin Ups. (altered enough to avoid any copyright infringement) So, some may think I'm strange or just plain weird, but that's ok, I'm a Pin Up Model (on the inside- perpetually svelte and 27 years old). It's a mindset. I am who I am. I live vicariously through my art (and all of those gorgeous vintage Pin Ups)! 

The Black Dagger Brotherhood

I've been at it again- getting totally addicted to Vampire novels. I have recently read the entire series of author J.R.Ward's "The Black Dagger Brotherhood".

  The Vampires in The Black Dagger Brotherhood are warriors/protectors of their race and are totally wicked hot stuff!  J.R.Ward writes these characters so well that I can just SEE a movie being made...as well as the actors I'd love to see portray her Vampire Warriors. Think very tall, dark, handsome, built (as in totally ripped!) , deep,  lots of attitude, charm and very individual personalities. And wealthy. For what I call "grocery store paperback reading" it's an awesome series. The next book in the series comes out the end of April. I'll be waiting at the doors for it! It's Twilight for grown ups. (Definitely for grown ups!) Check it out here:

  http://www.blackdaggerfans.net 

I am a very fast reader, I can devour a book in 24 hours. Yes, I will stay up until the wee hours of the morning if it's T.G. (THAT GOOD). I annoy the heck out of my hubby when I do that. He gets all huffy if he wakes up at 3 am and my nose is in the book with my itty-bitty book light. He's a non-reader. Can't believe I married a non-reader! He just doesn't understand. Fortunately the kids take after me when it comes to reading (addicitve reading!). We could have worse habits though, right?! 

Next up for reading is the "Sookie Stackhouse" series by author Charlaine Harris. Yes, you guessed it- more Vampires and Paranormal Adventures! The HBO original series "True Blood" is based directly on the Sookie Stackhouse novels.  I'm starting tonight on the first book in the series and I'll give you an update soon!

http://www.charlaineharris.com

Pecan Shortbread- Gluten Free

Pecan Shortbread- Gluten Free

3 ounces (6 Tablespoons) Butter, softened

1/2 Vanilla Bean, split and scraped (save pod for another recipe- zip lock in the freezer, or stick it in a small container of sugar to flavor the sugar- sublime!)

1/2 cup of Sugar

1 cup Brown Rice Flour (Bob's Red Mill is good)

3 ounces Pecans (toasted then chopped fine- about 1 cup after chopping)

1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 350*. Butter a square baking pan (8"x8") and set aside. Cream the butter, vanilla seeds and sugar with your mixer until fluffy, then reduce speed to low. Add flour, pecans and salt. Mix until just mixed. Press into pan and stick it in the freezer until firm (approx. 30 min.) Score the shortbread into 18 pieces, bake until lightly golden (approx. 50-55 min.) Let cool for about 15 minutes, then turn over onto cooling rack. Let cool completely, then cut into pieces.

Absolutely delish with a cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon!

I am feeling SMUG!

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" Ok, so most of you remember that part of The Wizard Of Oz, where the man behind the curtain was frantically cranking and  spinning handles and knobs, pushing buttons, watching the dials and gauges like a madman? Well that was me a couple of weeks ago! My husband was on his way to Mexico (not the scary parts) to do a field service job (which pays very well so I was not grumpy about his being gone to a warm climate while we're still here in the barren tundra) and because this is spring in New England- it's high water season- spring run-off, snow melting, all that. We own three hydro electric power stations which were running when he had to leave. Yep, busy time of year for hydro stations. Hubby called me from the airport in Detroit and said he recieved an automated call from one of the stations that it went "off line" which means it needed to be re-started. Now. I paused and said "And....this means what? Who do I call?" His reply: "I will call you in 20 minutes and I will talk you through start up procedure. Love ya, bye!" I was speechless. Which says a lot for me! So off I went to the station to await his call. It took me ten minutes to figure out which key it was to unlock the door to the place! Although I've been to the stations many times (I've even had hubby give my Girl Scout Troop tours through there). have I ever touched the equipment? Or even paid any attention at all to what buttons he pushed, dials he turned or what not? NOOOO! I was always busy trying to avoid the hydraulic oil and greasy bits of everything there. It is like being in a auto mechanics garage- everything is lubricated, filmy, and every guys dream. I was a bit out of my element to say the least, and the place is downright creepy! All that high voltage whizzing around! Although I do admire the nice vintage black bakelite handles on the equipment. So he called and took me through the list of procedures to start the thing up. (warning signs all around "DANGER! HIGH VOLTAGE!" egads!) Push this RED button, turn this handle, count to three, turn this other handle, count to ten, push this other RED button, turn on the synchroscope, watch the lights flash and the needle spin around crazy, turn this other handle, wait for it, wait for it, wait for it...throw the switch... now! BANG! (heart palpitations!) It's running! Oh! Wait! What happened?!  Everything just shut down again! Oh, you forgot to tell me what? So now I have to start all over?! Are you kidding me?! (insert cuss words here) Ok, I'll try it again! So, long story short, I got it up and going on the 4th try. I was feeling quite smug! Almost like Dr. Frankenstein (that's Frankensteeen!) "It's ALIVE!!!!" Thank God there were no ZZZZAPS, or sparks going off (although the big bang scared the crap out of me- hubby said he was sorry he forgot to warn me about that part.) So, I got to check the stations every day for 2 weeks, one of them went offline once and I got it started on the first try. YAY for me! I did get a big grease smudge on my favorite jacket though- aarrggghhh! Hubby thanked me and said he was VERY impressed, I told him it was my pleasure and he'd be recieving my invoice shortly. 

Hi Everyone! I have learned an important lesson recently, "Always Backup Your Computer!"

This lesson was learned the hard way- my computer was infected with not just one, but three Trojan Horse Viruses. When it was happening, it reminded me of the computer "Dave" (I think that was it's name anyways!) from Space Odyssey 2001. It was possessed, and I fully expected it to melt down to a puddle of smoking wires and gooey plastic in front of my eyes. It didn't, but I took it down to our computer guy and he actually got it running again! (I was really sweating it out for over a week!)I now have a few more "dead sectors" on my hard drive, but all of my documents and pictures have been saved, as well as most of my programs. I am lucky!  Anyways, on Amazon.com I purchased a little gadget called a Clickfree Automatic Backup (for under $98.00 and free shipping) it plugs into the USB port and does it's thing without any effort on my part and it's got enough brain space to backup multiple computers! A marriage made in heaven!  I've missed blogging, so I'm off to do drudgery housework, and when I take a break, I'll blog some more!