| We love to watch new movies and rewatching old ones. Well... watching isn't quite the right word. I think of film as a work of art... But it's not the screen that is the canvas... it is the viewer. The film is the tool used by the actors, directors, cinematographers and the entire crew to mold and manipulate our emotions. I LOVE to ride a movie on an emotional roller coaster. And I enjoy experiencing all kinds of emotions, so I end up having a wide range of favorites, many of which seem contradictory. There are so many that I won't even try to list them here. I had seen once upon a time that there was a place to enter your lists and other people could see them.. be it music, books or movies, but I can't remember what it was called. My biggest pet peeve is when people insist on comforting me if I'm crying my eyes out despite the number of times I've explained it.. to me that ruins the whole effect. Sort of like gluing Lego's together. We do enjoy going to the theaters, but unless the big screen is necessary due to special effects or action sequences we are quite content to just curl up on the couch... with a box of tissues nearby! We hope to eventually get a larger TV and better sound system so that watching DVDs will be even better. |
| One of the things that we dream of is buying a little plot of land somewhere far from the city where we can build a little cabin in the woods that we can escape to when the violence, noise and pollution gets to be too much and to retire to when we no longer need to work. Until then, we love to visit Hidden Falls and Crosby Park in St Paul, MN... It's amazing how secluded that area is when it's only 5 minutes from the middle of Downtown St Paul. We also take little "vacations" to the Como Conservatory, especially during the cold dark months of winter. We hope to have a vegetable garden this year. We have a rather nice area on the south side of the house that is 35 feet long and 12 feet wide. With some raised beds and a bit of planning, I think we can have plenty of fresh vegies over the summer and a freezer full for winter. We have a rather small city lot, and it is my dream to someday have it all fenced in like a little English garden. The property itself measures 42' x 110' and the house takes up at least 1/3 of the lot. The back is just grass and has a temporary fence just to keep the dog safe and secure. |
| M o v i e s |
| We both adore music. Coni enjoys listening to music, but Shawn loves diving into it. Our CD collection is enormous with well over 200 CDs. The vinyl collection is much smaller, but it is still very impressive. Of course this doesn't include the collection Shawn has in his I-Tunes folder 80 GB I think. |
| M u s i c |
| N a t u r e |
| We don't watch TV much at all, and we don't have cable. Most of the things we like to watch are on PBS anyway. We do own many series on DVD however. Among the series we currently own: All Creatures Great and Small, The Avengers, Black Adder, Buffy, Cowboy Bebop, Secret Agent, Mash, The Prisoner, Lost, Mash, Honeymooners and Stargate: SG-1. The most overwhelming series we own is Doctor Who. We have every thing since 1963. This collection is so large that it is housed in the basement and includes not only VHS and DVD's but CD of the audio plays, and paperback novels that continued the story for 20 years until it was brought back due to popular demand. |
| T V |
| Neither of us are much into sports. Coni only passion is limited to auto racing, specifically NASCAR. Shawn enjoys watching some sports, but only if it happens to be on and we have absolutely nothing else to do (which is practically never). |
| S p o r t s |
| We have a great affinity toward animals, and enjoy learning more about all of the animals in the world. Part of why we love PBS. We have 3 animals that are very near and dear to our hearts. We don't consider having pets to be ownership. They are sentient beings that are part of my family. We take care of them, we love them and they love us, but we don't own them. |
| A n i m a l s |
| GingerSnap is a Chow Chow... full blooded, but not show quality. She joined our family in January 2000 when she was just 6 weeks old. Someone brought her into the library one day when Coni was working. She meant to say "Get that animal out of the library!", but instead the words "I'll take her" came out, it was just meant to be. She has the genetic defect of knee displaisia which is why they were giving her away. She could not be used for show or breeding and would have been destroyed to keep the breed "pure." |
| Cloudy is a Birman... She looks a lot like a long haired Siamese, but Siamese have a very different head shape. She was actually born in this house, right under my bed. The mother was a neighbors cat who thought my house was safer. And of course, my daughters just HAD to have one. She is quite well behaved and actually does respond to voice commands. She certainly know what "NO" means, and it is about the funniest damn thing in the world when she is begging to go outside and Coni says NO.. she shoots down the basement stairs like a cannon ball! She is 17 and going strong |
| We are both great lovers of the printed page. Our collection of books is such that our diningroom has been transformed into a library. Coni mostly loves to read mystery and fantasy, whereas Shawn reads biographies as well as fiction.. |
| L i t e r a t u r e |
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| On April 18th, 2002, she had to have surgery. Basically she had to have her right rear knee replaced. The official term is TPLO: Tibial plateau leveling osteotomy... That comes to $207.70 a syllable. She is walking much better than she did before the surgery although she still favors the leg. She tends to be a good barometer too... when it's going to storm she won't use that leg at all. So she is now the official weather center. LOL Poor dear! She is 7 years old now. |
| Tasha is a Russian Blue, complete with the faint rings around the tail which makes her a rare variant... and totally arrogant. We also call her FB.. you can figure out what that means on your own. She is also 17 and has the beginnings of kidney failure. She was diagnosed over 2 years ago, and we were instructed to put her on a prescription diet and to keep hydrated by giving her 100 CCs of saline subcutaniously every other night... just to keep her comfortable for the few months she had remaining. The vet cannot believe how good she is doing. She is otherwise healthy and happy, so that's what matters. Once she starts having pain, I'll be kind and let her go, but until then, We'll continue to keep her hydrated and content. |
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