Welcome to Small Reflections


"Nothing is ever achieved without enthusiasm."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Duck photo source: Lisa's Chaos
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Giraffe Journal

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both self-hosted at WordPress
where I publish as myself
rather than under a
pseudonym.

I've not had much time for posting or blog visits, but if you're interested I hope you'll find time to check out my new blog, Giraffe Journal or my Labyrinth Journal website ... both self hosted at WordPress.

Thanks for your visit and have a delightful day ;--)
Hugs and blessings,

Sunday, June 1, 2008

CC#7, TENNIS UPDATE, and my 8th UM ...

I started a week late so today is my 7thMisty Dawn started the meme and explains the rules here:

My 'token' critter today ... Ms. Kitty
but
in truth,
these are the 'critters'
I'm watching THIS week at ...

The French Open

It's Day 8 but yesterday
dubbed a '5-set Saturday'
with men's matches ... close and long
today's players all so strong!

Exciting ... these matches kept
me engaged as the adept
men and women battled on
the red clay with abandon!

Cibulkova fought hard in the
1st set (quite dramatic'ly)
making Jankovic work a
complete hour on the clay
to take it at 7-5 ...
Each grateful to be 'alive'
play was called for 'darkness' at
2-4 in the second set
so they finished Saturday.

Strangely they let Venus play
on with Pennetta long past
9:15pm ... Aghast
everyone watched Williams lose
wondering why she would choose
to continue rather than
stopping. She knows strange things can
happen in such conditions.

~ ~ ~

A few additional 'Tennis Thoughts' I don't have time to rhyme:

1. The last American man standing is Robby Ginepri and he's playing magnificently with lots of confidence. He has the distinction of being the 1st American man to reach the 4th round at the French Open since Andre Agassi did so in 2003! Go Robby!!!

2. My favorite match was between Ferrer and Hewitt whose games are quite similar. Watching Ferrer take the 1st two sets had me worried it would end quickly in straight sets ... but watching the momentum shift and Hewitt come back and take the next two sets was exciting. Unfortunately I missed the last few games of the 5th set because it must have run over the recording time on my DVR. After 3 hours of play, the last I saw was them tied with 2 sets all ... at 3-3 in the 5th ... but I learned later than Ferrer pulled through. I would have liked to see those last few games.

3. Watching Davydenko take the 1st two sets against Ljubicic (6-4 and 6-2) ... then Lubicic take the next two (6-3 and 6-2) ... felt like a 'repeat' of the Ferrer-Hewitt match and when he got the break in the 5th set against Davydenko, I felt glad the 33 year old (2nd oldest man in the draw) managed to pull this win out in well over 3 hours ... and move on.

4. Federer and Nadal both seem to be 'crusing' through their matches easily ... though they'll face some challenging matches in the next few rounds. The 'rain delays' that led to Nadal playing 3 matches in 3 days don't seem to have caused him any problems at all.

5. Pennetta (who took out Serena) played poorly against the 'qualifier' Suarz-Navarro and LOST the match in straight sets. I'm currently watching Srebotnik (who took out Venus) start her match with Patty Schnyder and hoping it will be more competitive today.

6. The all-American men's doubles match this morning as fun to watch. Sam Querry & John Isner played Bryan brothers and played competitively, but the #1 seeded brothers prevailed in straight sets after a brief hiccup in the 1st set giving their opponents a 'match point' they couldn't convert.

7. Ivanovic had no problems with Cetkovska ... while both Jankovic and Sharapova struggled in their 2nd sets against opponents Radwanska and Knapp, but managed to win in straight sets. Kuznetsova looked strong and confident in her 'straight set' win over Petrova.

With Henin and the Williams Sisters out
things are wide open on the
women's side of
the draw!


Photo Source: Yahoo Sports

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I'm participating for the 8th time today.
How about you?


What comes to YOUR mind?

If you'd like to play here, copy and paste the clues in comments along with your responses ... or post on your blog and let me know so I can visit ;--)

Here are MY responses:

I say ... and you think ... ?
  1. Gossipping :: Utter foolishness that serves no good purpose
  2. Misplaced :: Trust (or possibly energy?)
  3. Spaceship :: Travel to distant places
  4. Ignore :: Disregard or neglect (as I do with DUSTBUNNIES and clutter)
  5. Bodily :: Heavenly (as in stars & planets)
  6. Tweezers :: Mini-tool
  7. Goodnight :: Irene (can you hear me singing?)
  8. Curls :: Something I want in my NEXT life so I don't need a perm every 3 months
  9. Faucet :: Leaky (I need a plumber!!!)
  10. Right? :: Left (or perhaps wrong ... but I prefer left)
Your turn: I say ... and you think ... ?
  1. Gossipping ::
  2. Misplaced ::
  3. Spaceship ::
  4. Ignore ::
  5. Bodily ::
  6. Tweezers ::
  7. Goodnight ::
  8. Curls ::
  9. Faucet ::
  10. Right? ::

Thought for Today
"I have always considered tennis as a combat in an arena between two gladiators who have their racquets and their courage as their weapons." Yannick Noah

20 comments:

Barb said...

*Waving hello to Ms. Kitty* :)

Akelamalu said...

LOL you do love your tennis, don't you? :)

Anonymous said...

Kitty photos are always great! This one really is great!

Sandy M said...

Hubs is also watching the French open. I don't know anything about it. Absolutely great mutterings. Enjoy your Sunday!

Rhea said...

Adorable Ms. Kitty!! Funny about the tennis critters. An unusual Camera Critters post, but fun!

i beati said...

That's where my friends and I are too watching the net.. love your ornery kittay-- spelled incorrectly fro emphjasis on kit - tay !!! sany

ShannonW said...

Ms. Kitty is very pretty sitting there!

Love the poem! and great Mutterings

Karen said...

Such looks of intensity on the players faces! And I love the shot of Ms Kitty--she seems to spend a lot of time on that fence!

Gossipping::Fun but dangerous
Misplaced::Keys
Spaceship::Enterprise
Ignore::At a cost
Bodily::Functions
Tweezers::Unslightly hairs
Goodnight::Moon
Curls::If only
Faucet::Dripping
Right?::Right

Off to your responses...

Anonymous said...

I do love these mutterings. I think of a "mini-tool" as a Leatherman Mini-Tool - which is probably totally different than what you were thinking!

Good luck with the plummer. We have a good one if you ever move to Denver! ;)

Anonymous said...

I like your ignore response!
We matched on Goodnight Irene.

Hope you can stop by my blog when you have a moment.
I am trying to learn PSP and gee, there is lots to know. Someday, maybe I might own PhotoShop. I hope they have a class at a time I can attend! You are so lucky!

ratmammy said...

I'm not a fan of tennis but i am a fan of kitty!!

Susan Demeter said...

Hahaha love this entry of CC :) Give Ms Kitty a scratch for me :)

Misty DawnS said...

Ms. Kitty is beautiful! What a great shot of her.

storyteller said...

Skittles – Ms. Kitty thanks you for the attention ;--)

Akelamalu – Yes I do … and I’m just about ‘current’ on the matches … watching Nadal play Verdasco as I type this response to you. Hmmmm … it’s just started to rain so play has stopped. I suppose they’ll switch to another match during the break however.

Andrée – I have trouble catching Molly and Ms. Kitty in any kind of ‘pose’ … but occasionally luck out with one like this.

SandyM – Hope you have something interesting to do while he watches. Thanks for the feedback on my mutterings … I enjoyed yours too. It’s always fun to se the similarities and differences.

Rhea – Glad you thought so. I do tend to bend rulez occasionally ;--)

I Beati – I see … and it ‘fits’ because Ms. Kittay DOES have ‘attitude’ for sure, as most cats do.

Shannon – Thanks for the feedback. I do enjoy ‘multi-tasking’ like this.

Karen – Tennis is a different game than when I played … much more intense, physical and aggressive. These players are incredible shape and need lots of stamina … especially on the clay in Paris! Thanks for playing along and sharing your ‘mutterings’ here again this week. My ‘ex’ used to misplace his keys always but I never do. I love your responses to Spaceship and Goodnight (loved Star Trek and that children’s book myself but didn’t think of them this morning) … and I see you long for curls like me ;--)

Claudia – Thanks on all counts. Currently I’ve got buckets and watering cans catching the water from the dripping faucets and use it in my garden … but I do need to find a plumber soon.

Jean – Ah … sometimes the truth just slips out unbidden, but I do think of dustbunnies as friendly critters I don’t need to feed these days ;--) As for Photoshop … I do feel blessed to have the time and opportunity to learn about the program from such an excellent teacher.

Ratmammy – ‘Tis all right … I’m fan enough for both of us!

Sue – I wasn’t sure ‘critter’ folks would relate to my oddball sense of humor on this one (and that’s why Ms. Kitty appears at the top). Glad you enjoyed it. Ms. Kitty sez ‘thanks’ … and Molly wonders why she’s being neglected today. I tried to remind her SHE was featured LAST week, but a dog’s attention span is short indeed … unless there’s a tennis ball involved ;--)

Misty Dawn – You know that her ears are burning and she’s purring loudly at your comment. Ms. Kitty hangs out on the tops of fences often these days … taunting Molly in the yard I guess as a way of getting even somehow?

I think I’ve visited most of you already … and will do my best to get to the rest of your blogs a bit later on. I hope you’ve all had a wonderful weekend and are enjoying the remainder of your Sunday afternoon/evening.
Hugs and blessings,

Joyce said...

Dear Storyteller,
You are the most enthusiastic tennis fan I know. I am glad you get such enjoyment from it. :)

I also came up with Goodnight, Irene, though I haven't posted my responses yet.

Hope you have a lovely Sunday. :)

Momisodes said...

Your passion for tennis is truly amazing. I have no idea how you find all of those pics!

Now I have Goodnight Irene playing in my head :)

Hope you had a fabulous weekend!

p.s. In response to your question yesterday on my collage, I created it in powerpoint! I uploaded all the photos onto a few slides, resized them, aligned them how I wanted, and then took a screen shot of the image completed and saved it as a Jpeg :) Sounds like I'm a bit crazy, but I don't have any image programs other than iphoto yet :(

Berni said...

I am very partial to cats but afraid to have one where I live it probably would get eaten.

You do like tennis, that's is great, I am afraid I find it quite dull, but that is why it is good we are all different

Hootin Anni said...

#7!!! And here I thought I'd be the only one with "Irene" for Goodnight. LOL ---color ME wrong.

Have a super duper Monday!!!

storyteller said...

Joyce – Yup … I’m a tennis fan through & through! I’m glad you’re ‘muttering’ again this week and I’ll look forward to seeing the rest of your responses as time permits.

Sandy – I find most of the photos on Yahoo Sports … but sometimes the ‘Official Tournament Site’ has photos too. I ‘collage’ them in Picasa then upload them to Blogger. I own Powerpoint but haven’t used it for much of anything other than Workshop Presentations. Perhaps I could ‘play’ with it to see what I can figure out now that I’ve seen what you did … and/or I could add it to my ‘to do’ list for possible classes to take when I finish with Photoshop? Ah yez, you and my friend Carol are ‘Mac’ users ;--)

Vic Grace – I suppose that’s a good reason not to have an outdoor cat, but I have friends with cats who never go outside … so perhaps that might work for you? As for tennis … perhaps I love it because I played for years … or because it reminds me of my brother who taught me the game but is no longer living. Whatever it is, I am a fan … especially in the 4 major tournaments.

Hootin’ Anni – Ya know what they say about ‘great minds’ … right? Seems like Joyce also was on the same song wave-length for her Ums. I did have a great Monday and hope you did too.

Thanks to everybody for stopping by and sharing your thoughts on my Sunday post! Hope you had a great weekend and a wonderful week.
Hugs and blessings,

Tina Coruth said...

Storyteller,

Your kitty photo is very cute!

Here are my answers:
1. Gossipping :: waste of time and energy
2. Misplaced :: loyalty
3. Spaceship :: exploration
4. Ignore :: the man behind the curtain
5. Bodily :: functions
6. Tweezers :: ouch!
7. Goodnight :: Mrs. Calabash, where ever you are.
8. Curls :: Cheese
9. Faucet :: drip
10.Right? :: Left?

This was fun!

Hugs,
Tina

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