Sunday, November 23, 2008

As TIme Goes By...


By Donna MacMeans

Can you believe it's almost Thanksgiving? Where has the year gone? Suddenly it's cold and I'm thinking about baking cookies, buying Christmas cards, and buying a 2009 calendar.
Of course you can't buy just one calendar. There's the big month at a glance calendar that hangs in the kitchen with all the family events, birthdays, medical appts., exercise classes, etc. There's my personal month-at-a-glance dayrunner calendar to track writing events, accounting classes, aerobic classes, etc. Then there's my smaller weekly calendar that I use to track writing progress. These are all paper calendars - which I admit our my favorite. I like the pictures :-)

The banditas maintain a yahoogroups calendar so we can keep track of our various blogging days. I belong to a goal setting group that also uses an internet calendar for its email reminders on meetings. I don't maintain a personal computer calendar or a PDA calendar but I know many do.

I've read that calendars are man's (or woman's) attempt to organize their busy lives, to - in a sense - control time. Given that time is determined by the cosmos, this is our attempt to link our daily lives to the heavens. But I wanted to talk about the paper variety. I was at the bookstore today and the variety never fails to amaze me.



I've loaded this blog with calendars that I'm thinking would appeal to the tastes of the various banditas. Can you match up which calendar goes with who?
Not sure I've got one for everyone, but I tried.
I hope I've got the click throughs set up that you can click on any of these images if you'd like to buy it. Are you a calendar afficionado? What type of calendars do you prefer? I must admit I used a calendar with lunar phases marked to keep track of the moon in THE TROUBLE WITH MOONLIGHT. I'll send a copy of THE TROUBLE WITH MOONLIGHT to one commentor.
So let's talk 2009.

69 comments:

Helen said...

Is he staying with me

Have Fun
Helen

Helen said...

He had fun with the Grandkids and we are just about to sit down and watch the final of Australian Idol.

I'll be back

Have Fun
Helen

Minna said...

Congrats on the GR Helen!

Miljoonasade: Marraskuu (November):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccpaaZvDL1k

Jane said...

Congrats on the GR, Helen.

I like the calendars with crossword puzzles on them. One of my all time favorite calendar featured the Far Side comic strip. I don't buy calendars anymore. I usually get them for free from banks. I'm guessing the shoe calendar is for Tawny.

Helen said...

Donna

I still use calanders although I like to look at the lovely ones in the shops and at the moment there is a stall selling some really nice ones at our local shopping centre I usually use the calanders that are given to us from the Chemist or other local shops.

In saying that I often buy them for friends as gifts and try very hard to pick one that suits their personalities.

Have Fun
Helen

Helen said...

OK Now for some guesses
Moms Jo's
Castles FoAnna
Rooster that could be for everyone
Mystic Faerie not sure
Book Lovers again could be for everyone or maybe Kate
Hotties I am sure everyone would like that one as well
Dilbert Not sure
Penguins Not sure
Shoes Gotta be Tawny's
Nurses Suzanne and Joanie
Wine Country I am sure everyone enjoys a glass of fine wine
Sudoku not sure
365 New words a year not sure

have Fun
Helen

Carol said...

Congrats again Helen...I think the Rooster Calendar is the one for you!

Are we matching these Donna...ok!
just some guesses of course!!

1.Mom- Jo has lots and lots of experience as mom...probably wrote the calendar under alias!

2.Castles...Anna... the next trip list!

3.Roosters...Aunty Cindy + crop!keep them all in line!

4.Mystic...Nancy...ideas abound!

5.Book Lover...Caren...this would fix the choice problem with book club!

6.Christian...Everyone! Who would not!
7.Dilbert... Christine...in Aus they'd have horsehair on their heads!

8.Penguins...K.J..probably got her ticket booked!

9.Shoes...Tawney...ticking off bought at the end of each month..lol

10.Nurses...Joan and Suzzanne...probably could fill up
12 more pages each with funny stories

11.Wine...Cassondra...good for the voice...relax the palate!!

12.Suduko...Well I haven't a clue on this one...(whisper Donna the link takes us to the wine ...it was tasty!)and after the wine tasting ...who cares!!!hic!

13.Words another one for Everyone...hanging over the PC table...

My Choice ...the Roosters =fun or
365 new words= Interesting to have!
Cheers Carol

Maureen said...

It is hard to believe that it is almost 2009. I do like looking at all those gorgeous calenders but the one we use ends up being the school calender since it has all the days off marked.

MJFredrick said...

I have 3 calendars - a wall calendar with pretty boys, a four-month-at-a-glance calendar that can be erased and reused (color coded for writing stuff, life stuff and school stuff), and a disposable weekly calendar on the fridge to keep track of menus and cleaning schedules as well as other goals and other family activities.

Right now I'm trying to decide which Supernatural calendar to buy for 2009.

Donna MacMeans said...

Hi Helen - Carol is right - it's the Rooster for you this morning!Congratulations!

Donna MacMeans said...

Jane - I live those Far side calendars as well - love the humor. I had originally planned to include one of those in the mix, but at 3:00 in the morning, I figured I had enough. To be honest, I had a more calendars in mind, but the click throughs were driving me nuts.

Donna MacMeans said...

Watching the guesses as to who gets what calendar is great fun. I'll print out my logic later tonight, but meanwhile have at it.

Donna MacMeans said...

Maureen - good point! Fortunately, mine are out of school so no need to track all those teacher-training days and holiday breaks. I never used the school calendars, though, when mine were little. They had too much stuff written in the squares -I need room - lots of room to track all the family stuff.

Donna MacMeans said...

Carol - great guesses. Some I never considered *g*. I hadn't thought that I'd find a complete calendar of roosters, but when I popped it in the search engine, there were several. Guess there truly is a calendar for every occasion.

Donna MacMeans said...

MaryF - I like the idea of color coding (and I bet Tawny does too *g*) I use stickers on the calendars as well. One with presents for birthdays, smiles for writing, Medication stickers to remind me when the dog needs her monthly meds - that sort of thing.

Hmmm...hadn't thought about putting menus on the calendar. That's a good idea. I know there are free programs on the computer that allow you to do your own monthly calendar - is that what you do?

MJFredrick said...

I bought my weekly calendar at Walgreens for $2 and my color coded wall calendar was at an office supply store. I can't remember if it was $20 or $30, but it's worth it!

I don't write on my pretty boy calendars ;)

Donna MacMeans said...

MaryF - LOL on not writing on the pretty boy calendars. You know, I searched for calendars-men and found a couple drool worthy ones. I just peeked out of curiosity at calendars-woman and found pages and pages and pages... I think this suggests that we women need to create a higher demand for calendars featuring hunky men!

FWIW - I found one that was called Naked Straight Men with a cover that could have doubled for Ellora's Cave. I might have to order that one for myself...strictly for writing inspiration...yeah - we'll go with that.

MJFredrick said...

This is the one I think I want this year:

http://www.creationent.com/images/SN-CAL2009/index.htm

Dina said...

I think I'm gonna get a desk calendar this yr, because my job needs it and it might be fun than a plain one.

jo robertson said...

WTG, Helen, two days in a row. How did the GR like the lamb?

Donna, what a unique topic.

I love calendars. One of my favorite things to do is purchase my new personal calendar each year. When I taught, I always bought the academic calendar which goes from August to August, and teachers love. I like to plan my year in advance and the calendar often doubles as my "journal" of important events.

jo robertson said...

Oops, forgot to match the calendars to Banditas.

Hey, hey, hey, hey, what's with the Mom calendar? That one should go to the Bandita with lots of little kiddies running around. Mine would be the "365 words" one cause ya'll know I lurve words.

The shoes calendar must be either Tawny's or Vrai Anna's, and the nurses one, yep, Joan or Suzanne!

Unknown said...

I buy my calender form a vidio store each year, because that have a coupon for a free movie each month. You rent one movie and get one free. Most of the time there is only a couple of movies we want to see each month anyway. I pay four dollars for the calender and it pays for itself.

Unknown said...

I'd have to go with the book lovers one or the castles one...

I noticed that Neuschwanstein Castle is on the front cover of the castle calender... I went to Germany in 2005 and took a tour of that castle... what great memories :)

Anna Sugden said...

Congratulations, Helen! The GR is obviously having way too much fun at your place!

Great post, Donna - very clever. I'll have to look carefully at the calendars again.

I always buy a black cats or tuxedo cats calendar for the kitchen - that's for recording the family activities. Then I have another one for my office for things like my blog days!

This year my hubby made me an office calendar with photos of my cats - the two who passed away last year and the two we've adopted since - on every month. So special.

Anna Sugden said...

Oooh - just noticed one particularly nice calendar for me *g*.

Donna MacMeans said...

MaryF - Now see, when you said supernatural - I thought you meant like dragons & witches and stuff. But you meant the TV show, SUPERNATURAL. I've not seen that show. Is it like EUREKA? That one is fun.

Hadn't thought of including fav TV show calendars in my collection. I did have a dogs one and a cats but sleep overtook me. (Or maybe it was just the snoring of my dog beside me.)

Donna MacMeans said...

Dina -

Definitely go for a fun one. It'll be hard not to restrain yourself from reading all the jokes, or checking out the cartoons on the first day - but resist! It makes the new discovery each day or week that much more fun.

Donna MacMeans said...

Hey Jo -

I use my calendar as a journal as well. So much so, that at year end, I use the writing & accounting events listed to calculate mileage and such for taxes. I then keep the calendar for three years as support and then -maybe - I'll toss it. I've kept several just for the pictures.

Donna MacMeans said...

So Jo - what calendar did I pick for you *g*?

MJFredrick said...

I've only seen Eureka once, and the shows aren't too similar, from what I've seen. Supernatural can be pretty scary, but also has great story arcs and pretty boys.

And the car. I love the car.

Donna MacMeans said...

Oops - replied too soon without reading all the comments. There's a few more there picked specifically to match up with certain banditas. I will admit, the shoes calendar is for Tawny. Guess that's not a well-kept secret.

Donna MacMeans said...

Virginia - Sounds like a steal to me. Smart move, cookie! If the calendar also listed the dates certain DVDs would be available - so much the better - though it seems they release them pretty darn soon after the theater release these days. They might not have that info at calendar printing time.

Donna MacMeans said...

Dani88 - I'm jealous! What did you think of it?

We have a collection of minature statutes of castles and the Neuschwanstein is one of my favorites. Such a storybook place. I'd love to visit - and yeah - that's the reason I chose that particular calendar. There are several featuring castles.

Donna MacMeans said...

Hehehe - I knew you'd find it Anna. Actually, I saw a black cats calendar. I hadn't realized that they'd devote one exclusively to black cats. How sweet of your husband to make a calendar specifically for you. Great way to keep the memories alive.

Donna MacMeans said...

MaryF - Pretty boys are a "must have" if the show's going to last *g*. Actually, I don't get to watch a lot of TV. I like Eureka because it's just imaginative, but I've only seen a few episodes. How's that new one, FRINGE? I'm usually out and about when that one comes on, but it seemed similar - but maybe less humorous - than Eureka.

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

GREAT topic Donna! And LURVE the calendars you featured.

LOL Carol, great reasoning on giving ME the rooster calendar, but I'm afraid Helen and Fedora and a few others will fight me for the honor. Obviously the shoes are for Tawny and the penguins are VA (though I used to collect penguins myself once upon a time). The nurses one could be for me too, since I used to supervise nurses back in the day and could tell a few stories... NOT like Joanie and Suz of course. ;-)

I'm all about the FREE calendars too. My desk one for 2008 was given to me by my real estate agent. And a friend has already given me a gorgeous diary/planner with art deco images.

I've saved my desk calendars since I started keeping track of my writing (about 4 years ago) and it is very interesting to thumb back through them and see what I was writing and when.

AC

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Meant to say that I think the wine calendar is for Cassondra and/or Kate, and the Dilbert one about meetings is for Trish because she's been on the RWA board for awhile and gets to attend all those lovely meetings. :-P

AC
who has been to Neuschwanstein Castle and it is absolutely GORGEOUS inside and out!

Donna MacMeans said...

AC - so just add ANOTHER reason for me to be jealous of you *g*. Wasn't Neuschwanstein built as something of a fantasy palace? I know construction on it began in the late 1800s so it's hardly the stuff of medieval castles built for defense.

I like those free calendars that have magnets on the back of them. Can't write anything on them - too small - but I like to put them on the filing cabinets near the computer so I can make a quick date reference.

How neat that you kept your calendars showing your writing progress. How do you keep track? I write the page number of the last page completed, a slash, and then the total number of pages. That's because I'm constantly cutting pages and the total page count changes. I calculate how many pages I wrote that day and circle the number.

Speaking of which, I need to stop procrastinating and get a new calendar to document my WIP (or should I say Work not in process.)

Unknown said...

Donna MacMeans~

It was amazing!!! It was hard to get up there (because of the altitude) but it was so worth it. The view was so beautiful! I can't even describe it... If anyone ever goes to Germany you HAVE to make Neuschwanstein Castle one of your tour stops!

catslady said...

I just won a Chippendale calendar - my first for next year lol. I always have one or two that I write in -appts. etc. And then I have 2 or 3 cat/animal calendars in different rooms and then any others that are given away lol.

Tawny said...

I live by my calendar, Donna :-)

I use Outlook's calendar to record appointments, school and school events, the myriad of kid related commitments and my blog dates. It also has a great task program that helps me with getting bigger projects done like promotion.

I really should put deadlines into it for writing, but somehow I haven't brought myself to that yet LOL.

Pat Cochran said...

The calendar that sees the most use
is a credit-card sized one that sits
right in front of my computer. It
arrived with an item I purchased for
Christmas last year. Whenever I need to check a blogging date or whatever, I just reach for it!

Pat Cochran

Donna MacMeans said...

dani88 - one of these days...there's so many places I want to see - most of which require a long long flight squeezed into a tiny airplane seat beside the sole baby on the plane. Now I like kids, have a few myself, and understand that the changing air pressure and boring surroundings do a number on the babies' heads which results in a ocassional scream or two. But why do they always end up sitting right beside, or right behind me? But that's the way of it sometimes. One of these days I'll get to see the castle.

Kate Carlisle said...

Hey Donna, great post! Very clever! I love calendars, too. And how fun to see all the guesses as to which bandita goes with which calendar!

Now, even I thought the wine calendar was for me. Not sure why. {hic!} But what a treat to see that Helen thinks I'm more the book lover type! Which I am, of course. We all are, right?

Okay, Shoes. Easy! Anna and/or Tawny.

And nurses = Joanie and Suz.

And moms? Well, we've got a bunch of moms here in the Lair.

And Helen's right about those hunky men. Everybody wants that one! If they'd been firemen, I would've said Suz. :-)

But 365 Words and Sudoku, hmm. Posh? Kirsten? Jo? Oh, but Kirsten might go for Dilbert since she spends so much time in meetings. Wait, Posh might go for Dilbert, too...

Okay, I give up. Just gimme that wine calendar!!

Oh, and I'm very jealous of the GR, getting to watch Australian Idol with Helen. Our American Idol doesn't start up again until January. Can't wait!

Donna MacMeans said...

Catslady - A Chippendale calendar? Oh, you lucky girl *g*.

I love the kitten and puppy calendars. They're so cute. Isn't it amazing how many calendars we use to organize our lives? Do you think this is a uniquely modern phenomenon?

Donna MacMeans said...

Tawny - I've not used the Outlook calendar - perhaps because sometimes everyone else is using my computer except me and I can't reliably get to it *g*. Now the big question is, can you color-code it?

Donna MacMeans said...

Pat - Yes, I like those little real estate calendars by my computers for the same reason. My most frequently used calendar used to be the one in my checkbook, but with these days of plastic, I never carry a checkbook anymore. Of course, more and more it's hard to distinquish the tiny numbers - but that's a different problem all together *g*

Unknown said...

Neuschwanstein Castle is one of King Ludwig II's castles... it was almost finished in 1886 (the interior wasn't complete, the rooms mainly) until construction was stopped do to Ludwig being declared "insane" and dieing in June of that year...

i learned a lot about this castle in German class lol

Anna Sugden said...

Hey, I've just realised there are 3 calendars that could apply to me! Cool LOL.

Anna Campbell said...

Helen, he must be enjoying the Tim Tams!

Donna, what a fun post to match everyone up with their calendars! I LOVE calendars. I'm actually going through separation anxiety about my 2008 calendar already. It's a really spectacular one I bought myself when I was in Scotland in 2007. I've been sighing over the Highlands all year and now it's nearly over. Sigh...

And I, like you, can't believe the year's nearly over!!! Where has it gone? I bought Christmas cards last week and honestly it only feels like a little while ago I was doing LAST year's Christmas cards!

Donna MacMeans said...

Kate - I wondered what happened to American Idol. I believe they announced the winners of the last one while I was in Pittsburgh for RT. I see that the runner-up David is singing in the Macy's parade this year. Haven't heard anything about the winner.

Yes, the wine calender is appropriate for all of us - except me. I'm swearing off wine and sticking to the hard stuff. Now a Jack Daniels calendar, preferably one with recipes, that would work for me. *g*

Donna MacMeans said...

Dani88 - I signed up for a class on castles at the local parks & recreation dept. I was really looking forward to it, but it was cancelled due to lack of interest. Only two people signed up. Major bummer.

Donna MacMeans said...

Anna - I had a great Australian calendar I wanted to upload to the blog, but was having "issues" with getting the darn thing to work. It was a orange seascape as in at sunset with these magnificant standing stones. Really neat, but I figure the castles worked for you as well. At least, our BBs think so *g*

Anna Campbell said...

Hey, I figured the castles were me! How cool!

Fedora said...

How fun, Donna! I personally love the Boynton calendars, just because of the cute pictures :) (I'm not sure any calendar would actually help me stay better organized... that would require that it automatically note important events and then put itself in front of me periodically to remind me of them.)

Congrats on the GR, Helen! Did he get into your Tim Tam stash again?

Martin said...

My friend Rosie and I have been panting over this one:

http://www.tvboyfriends.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/windowslivewriterrugbyimnotafanbuttheircalendarthatsanot-10470geoffroy-messina1.jpg

Becke Davis said...

Oops, that came in under the wrong account name!

Donna MacMeans said...

Treethyme!!!! That calendar is HOT! What is he chained to? This could definitely make me a rugby fan.

Donna MacMeans said...

fichen1 - LOL - I need a calendar that will reach out and slap me if I don't get better organized. I think calendars help us focus on the short term goals, but the long term goals - I need something else, I'm afraid. Haven't figured that out exactly yet.

Joan said...

Pssst....Suz...they're onto us...

Great post, Donna!

I have had an Ireland calendar for YEARS!

I love turning the months onto some lush, green scenery that...more and more..I can name without looking a the caption :-)

I do admit admiring the hunk ones and wish somehow I could meld the two...lush, hunky Irishmen :-)

Keira Soleore said...

Helen, he sure is staying with you. The weather's lovely there and like crud over here.

I adore calendars. I have a day-by-day desk one, one in Outlook, and one small day planner in my back.

I gave my sis-in-law the Shoes day-by-day one for 2009. I also have my 365-day one for 2009 bought: Forgotten English by Jeffrey Kacirk. This is the fourth year running that I've had this one.

In the past, I've had 365s for New Yorker, Dilbert, English Vocabularly, and French Vocabulary.

Now for the guesswork...

Shoes = Vrai & Tawny
Nurses = Suz & Joanie
Dilbert = Posh the engineer
Castles = Fo & Donna
Rooster = Everyone
Hawt Stuff = EVERYONE
Mom = Kirsten & Smoov
Mystic Faerie = Nancy & AC
Book Lovers = Posh
Penguins = Cassondra
Wine = Christine & Fo
Sudoku = Trish on her train journeys
Words = Fo & Trish

Donna MacMeans said...

LOL Joanie - I did a quick search for a calendar of Irish men (I mean how difficult can it be to find hunky Irishmen?) and the search brought up:

Calendar of the Fighting Irish (Notre Dame)
Calendar of Irish Wolfhounds (must be all males)
Calendar of Irish Setters (see above)

Not exactly what you had in mind, I suppose.

Anonymous said...

Ooo Donna, what fun! I love to look at calendars. They have so many beautiful ones these days with gorgeous pictures and space for writing and inspiring quotes.

But alas, the only calendar I use is the one in my computer/Blackberry. I'd be lost without it. Though Kate's right -- I spend enough time in meetings that I could use that Dilbert one!

I'd like the word-a-day calendar, too, like Jo. I love my word of the day from dictionary.com. :-)

Donna MacMeans said...

Keira - Ah, you know us so well. I think you have the most correct so far. I'll post the list at midnight, Eastern Standard Time, as well as the winner.

Donna MacMeans said...

Kirsten - Those blackberry calendars are so efficient, yet impersonal. Plus - how do you save them for posterity?

Nope - I like the pictures and the room to write & place stickers for events to remember. It's the historian in me.

I have a calendar from the turn of the century. It belonged to my grandmother. It's a small pocket calendar that shows a week at a time, but she used it to write brief notes like a diary. There's a sentence about going with my grandfather to a dance, and a sentence when he asked her to marry him. She also lists the amount of her paycheck which was only a couple of dollars, the price of fares to various places.

I wonder if someday someone will discover my old calendars and try to discover something about life in those times. Heaven help them *g*

Donna MacMeans said...

Kiera got the most right so she wins the prize. But my logic was:

Moms - Christie, Jeanne, Beth, Kirsten, Smoov, Christine ...all the banditas with little ones.

Castles - Fo & I (& Dani88)
Rooster - all of us
Fairies - I had Nancy in mind. Actually, I was looking for something with dragons, but I liked this cover better.
Book Lovers - it works for all of us, but it reminded me of Kate's cover for Homicide in Hardcover.
Hunky men - That's for the enjoyment of all of us.
Dilbert - I was thinking of Engineer Caren, but it works for Corporate Kirsten as well *g*
Penguins - That's for Vrai Anna, but I liked Carol's take on it.
Shoes - Tawny, of course
Nurses - Suz & Joanie
Wine - That's Cassondra (Carol nailed that one)
Suduku - That's me, the accountant. I love those puzzles.
365 New words - that's Jo, but I think we'd all enjoy it.

Darn it - I had a Sierra calendar I wanted to load for Trish & the Australian calendar for Fo & Christine but the late hour got the better of me.

Thanks for playing everyone - it was fun!

Keira Soleore said...

Hey, WOW! This is the first Bandita gift I've won in The Lair. What a fabulous going-away gift!! Thanks muchly, Donna!!!

Tawny said...

Now the big question is, can you color-code it?

Of COURSE!!! I love it LOL

Anna Sugden said...

LOL Donna - the hunk calendar you chose is also a star player for Man Utd, so he could apply to me too *g*.