…is to quote a line from her book back to her.

Someone did that yesterday, and just blew me away. I'm a little giddy that she actually remembered the line enough to quote it back, and she said it was very beautiful. Wow!

(There are other ways to an author's heart, which I blog about here, but this was a new one for me.)

Happy Friday! Enjoy the weekend! 

ETA: Since several of you have asked what the quote was, here it is: “It made life more tolerable when one could recognize charcoal or a light mist color.”

We were gifted with a big (I mean big!) box of French chocolates.

I've had it sitting on the bookshelf in my office where no one will notice it (a la the Purloined Letter, wasn't it? hidden in plain sight?) for about three weeks now.

I'm in my office pretty much most of the day every day. I walk up the stairs and the box of chocolates, where it sits on my shelf, is pretty much at eye level as I round the top of the stairs.

I'm happy to report that it was more than a week before I even opened the darn box. Then I limited myself to one piece per day. And I succeeded (well, except one day…well, make that two, when I had two pieces). But still, one or two a day isn't bad when the darn box is right there!

Someone asked me why I kept it in my office where it was such a temptation–and rightly so. I explained it was for the good of the rest of my family, so they wouldn't binge on it.

(That was true. The other side of the coin was because I wanted to make sure I actually had a piece–or two–of the chocolate.)

Yesterday, I noticed that there was still a lot of chocolate left, and it was getting a little harder to ignore that box when I came up the stairs…so I allowed each of the children to pick one piece when they got home from school, and then another one for dessert after dinner.

We did the same tonight. That put a nice dent in it, and so now, at last count, there are fewer than four pieces of temptation left.

I'm thinking I need to really get rid of them all….but how?

How should I finish them off? 

 Thirteen Record Albums from the 1980s

That I Have Hanging on my Basement Walls

Yes, about four years ago I decided to take all of my old albums out of storage and do something with them, so I hung them all up on my basement walls (after I'd painted them white). They're quite the conversation piece, really, especially when someone from my–dare I say generation?–comes over.

So here is a selection of thirteen of them…how many did you have? Come on, 'fess up!

(By the way, I take full credit for all of them. My Music Man wouldn't touch most of them with a ten-foot pole.)

 1. Prince/Parade

2. Crowded House

3. Billy Joel/Songs in the Attic

4. J. Geils Band/Love Stinks

5. Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band/Against the Wind

6. YES/90125

7. The Clash/Combat Rock

8. Sting/Dream of the Blue Turtles

9. Cutting Crew/Broadcast

10. U2/The Unforgettable Fire

11. Talking Heads/Little Creatures

12. The Thompson Twins/Into the Gap

13. Culture Club/Kissing to be Clever 

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

But what kind of fish (or other creatures) should I put in it? 

(For those of you ready to rush to your local Home Depot…ask for a Fish-n-Flush. Yep. That's what it's called.) 

I'm coming out of the closet as a Brad and Angelina fan. Can't help it!

I don't know what happened with Brad and Jennifer Aniston, but I do read gossip columns (one of my biggest guilty pleasures) and based on what I'd been reading for a long time before the infamous filming of Mr & Mrs Smith (hot, hot, hot movie!), there were lots of trouble in the Pitt-Aniston paradise, including a coke addiction and other life-altering issues. 

Anyway, I love the Jolie-Pitts. I love how they look together, the way they act together (and sure, it's probably mostly an act, but they do it so convincingly and gorgeously!), and the fact that they're determined to do their part to make the world a better place. They use their fame and fortune for things other than bigger houses, cars, gowns, jewels, etc.

So, of course, last night at the Globes was the Jolie-Pitts' first red-carpet appearance together, and wow! Loved, loved, loved it! 

Did you watch the Globes? Who was your favorite red-carpet-traveler?