Saturday, December 27, 2008

Spending Time by Margot Justes

I have not turned my computer on in several days-I spent time with family and friends. Our annual party was a success, but plans for my time at home veered off course-snow, a lot of snow and I’m a coward when it comes to driving or for that matter, riding in a car when there is ice overlaid by snow. It was a perfect winter wonderland scene, huge snow flakes gently falling on an already white canvas. Best appreciated in a warm, comfortable home, while sipping eggnog with a touch of rum.

We had plans to go downtown to the Art Institute-we had plans on Tuesday and Wednesday-but nature intervened, so we stayed in the area. But all was not lost, we went to breakfast Wednesday, shopped a bit, stood in line for 30 minutes at Dick’s Sporting Goods-it was worth it-we were entertained by a man standing behind us, who kept giving us odds on whether it was faster to get out of line and go to another store in an entirely different mall…

We finally made it to the Art Institute on Friday-there is an incredible Tapestry exhibit that runs through January 4, 2009. Four Centuries of European Tapestries-all in glorious color and incredible detail. Simply exquisite! Brilliant. Dazzling! Even if your tastes do not run toward tapestries, this exhibit is well worth seeing, the work is magnificent, and the attention to detail is absolute perfection.

Have a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Till next Saturday,
Margot Justes
A Hotel in Paris ISBN 978-1-59080-534-3
Art brought her to Paris, then a stranger’s death changes her life.
Missing ISBN 978-1-59080-611 1
www.mjustes.com
available on amazon.com

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Don't Give Up the Day Job by Margot Justes

The holiday season is fast approaching and I noticed in my own every day life that the pressure to finish everything is on. There is the shopping, baking, cooking and cleaning to get the house ready for our annual get together with friends and family, and of course my day job; the one that actually provides a regular pay check.

But there is also the life of the writer and the functions that have be attended to get my name out there-where ever out there is.

Today was just such a day. The early morning saw me at my local Jewel, but before the Jewel, I made coffee, had a few cups while I got ready and of course the coffee made the rest of the day seem possible. At any rate, by eight o’clock I was at the Jewel picking up things I’d need for later this afternoon.

Got back from the Jewel and headed to the author part of my life and the Des Plaines Library for a six hour function with fellow authors June Sproat, Morgan Mandel and Carrie Lofty, then back home, where I made fudge and tasted it several times to make sure it was perfect. It was.

Also rum balls were on the schedule today, now those I had to taste frequently, adding rum is tricky. You have to mix and add more and taste, and mix-well you get the drift. I just had to make sure there was enough rum in said balls. Very tricky. And very tasty. There will be another tasting after I post this blob, oops blog…time to post.

Till next Saturday,
Margot Justes
A Hotel in Paris ISBN 978-1-59080-534-3
Art brought her to Paris, then a stranger’s death changes her life.
Missing ISBN 978-1-59080-611 1
www.mjustes.com
available on amazon.com

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Real and Reel Science on CSI MIami by Margot Justes

I missed last week’s blog, another one of those weekends where real life took over, and I wound up with a miserable cold-which leads me to this blog.

I actually spent some time watching TV-one show-CSI Miami-I was asked to watch because my daughter (the scientist) actually participated in the research for one of the instruments they used; brand new, very exciting research with incredible potential, desorption electrospray ionization or DESI for short.

The instrument can identify and find fingerprints buried beneath a multitude of others, it can identify the chemical signature and can also identify what an individual recently handled. I’d say that’s pretty cool.

I normally don’t watch the show because the Technicolor is just so, how shall I put it
-colorful…I’ve been there, reality is far more timid. But I appreciate the fact that they gave real science a boost in a reel world.

One other show I watched this week is Numbers, I like it. The math is complicated, but math makes the world go round, so I listen and try to understand and while it’s being explained I grasp it. Really I do. But my comprehension is very short-lived as soon as he’s done explaining, I’m done understanding-but again the science is real. Numbers also mentioned DESI, this one I wasn’t expecting, and was delighted and proud that my daughter had a hand in the research.

Till next Saturday,
Margot Justes
A Hotel in Paris ISBN 978-1-59080-534-3
Art brought her to Paris, then a stranger’s death changes her life.
Missing ISBN 978-1-59080-611 1
www.mjustes.com
available on amazon.com