I think I’ve mentioned in a previous post that I keep track of my favorite blogs with Bloglines. I like it very much seeing as it’s easy to tell whether a blogger has posted since I last checked in. Generally I can just click on a particular blog title and read the latest posts. For some blogs, however, only the blog title is revealed on the main page, and I have to click over to read the actual blog post. So I was checking in with Beck this evening and saw she had a post entitled ‘Caper Mishap’, and all of sudden I was excited.

You see, I’ve never really been involved in a good caper. I’m not much of a mischievous person, being really more of a rule-follower/goody-goody, and my pranks (verrry tame) are generally not the sort that require much pre-planning. But I feel, at this moment, as if I’m somehow missing out in not having even a so-so caper under my belt. No high school hijinks, no sorority surprises, not even any grown-up goofs. What does it take, in this day and age, to have a caper? What would be a good jumping off point? Do you need to conscript a posse of hooligans before you start planning something like this? I’m curious. If any of you have first hand caper knowledge, I’d be very interested in talking to you. (Via the comments is probably the most straightforward way, unless, that is, you need to protect your anonymity.)

Eventually I clicked over and discovered that Beck’s ‘Caper Mishap’ was actually dealing with the salted pickled buds of the caper plant. Just to be clear, that’s not the sort of caper I’m referring to here.

Many thanks for the many and varied Christmas CD suggestions. I will take these all under advisement. (Translation: I will look each of them up on Amazon and listen to a selection of tracks to see if it’s the one–or maybe just one I’d like having). Also big apologies if I’ve not stopped by your blog very recently. I’m not sitting at my computer nearly so often as I used to…which means, not only am I not writing right now (Bad Alyssa!), but I’m not really blogging either. I need to catch up with everyone, but right now the only down time I’m getting is the thirty minutes between four and four-thirty every day that I watch Barefoot Contessa.

It’s my time to see how the butter-half lives. (I cannot tell you how much this little pun amuses me.) For anyone who has watched B.C. or owns one of Ina Garten’s (the Contessa) cookbooks, that’s sort of an inside joke. Every recipe has butter in it. And if the item is of the baking variety, well there’re generally a couple of sticks. Well yesterday she outdid herself with a Halloween chocolate cake topped with neon orange buttercream frosting. How many sticks would you imagine would be in the frosting for a ‘sheet cake’? Five. Five sticks. I have to say, her food looks veerrrry yummy and she makes it look so easy, but good grief–I don’t think I could ever bring myself to make the bulk of these recipes. I suppose that contributes to the soothing nature of the program. I watch Ina Garten ferry about to the fishmonger, the baker, the wild mushroom man, all while I lie on my living room floor. With her friends she has mini-parties with lavishly decorated tables and well-buttered entrees and desserts while I linger over a Jello pudding cup. And then it’s goodbye to the Hamptons and back to my real life.

In other news, I’m currently (and very slowly) reading a book that is the most in-your-face novel I think I’ve ever read. And I mean that in a good way. The metaphors are so vivid and the talk is so snap-back that I suppose it’s good I’m only getting it in small doses. It reminds me of those old fashioned PI movies where everyone’s got a comeback for everything. But here it’s a newspaper reporter and a woman at that. I will report back. I think it’s called A Problem with the Facts but am too lazy to go check.

Hopefully this feeling passes as I’m hoping to visit all your blogs very, very soon.

P.S. This is my 500th post! Egad!

Thanks so much to everyone who had nice things to say about my blog. I appreciate each and every one of you! That said, maybe you can help me out. Spurred into action by the Christmas decorations already showing up everywhere, an impending roadtrip, and a need for some variety, I am already on the hunt for this year’s Christmas CD. Yep, that’s right–every year I treat myself to some new Christmas music (assuming I can find a CD that I like). It started in 1998 (I think), with an Old Navy Christmas CD, which I LOVED. I had a very particular fondness for ‘Winter Weather’, which is a not often heard holiday song. Well, I had a cassette tape, and I played it so much that the tape snapped, and I’ve felt it’s loss ever since. I’ve tried to replace it with a new favorite, and came pretty darn close with last year’s Wintersong purchase. But I still miss those Old Navy oldies. While in Target last week, a Michael Buble Christmas album caught my eye, but it only had six songs on it. And then I saw a Kristin Chenowith Christmas CD, but after listening to a few tracks on Amazon, I’m not sure it’s the one. I found a contender while surfing the Michael Buble ‘Customers Who Bought This…’ slider (also on Amazon), but now I can’t remember the artist’s name. It was a young guy, and I think his last name started with a ‘B’ (amazingly, these two little bits of info aren’t helping all that much). So as you can see, I need some recommendations. I like various styles and am looking for a CD to step up to be this year’s Christmas favorite. So lay your suggestions on me. Pretty please.

Addendum: Doesn’t that CD cover look lovely on my blog? The colors are perfect. I’m going back to admire…