Birthday Post

So, my birthday was a lot more low-key this year. For one thing, I had to work 8:45-5 PM. This is when I started wearing my reindeer antlers to work. I ate grilled cheese and Code Red at KMart for lunch.

Then, I got home, napped and read all the wonderful posts and comments and Tweets from everyone before going to see Sherlock Holmes and the Game of Shadows.

When we got home, I happened to look over and see a shooting star!
Then, we did crackers which we'd never done before. I didn't even know you could buy them in America. They were fun but the pops didn't always work. We split them up into two for my birthday, two for Christmas and two for New Year's.

Oh, speaking of Sherlock Holmes, I saw that OTHER Sherlock Holmes movie today. You know, the one with Gareth David-Lloyd?

It actually wasn't as bad I was expecting. I think the main problem was that the Sherlock actor was completely wrong for the part. Otherwise, I want the Warehouse 13 spin-off in Victorian times so HARD!

Also, here's the outfit I got for my birthday although I also got a skeleton Hello Kitty purse and a Lucky bracelet:

Save the Belleview Biltmore!

In the late 19th century, Florida appeared to be owned by Henry Plant and Henry Flagler. Henry Plant built up central and west Florida. Plant City is named after him. Morton Plant Hospital exists because of him as do many towns and cities that came to exist because of his railroad. CSX still uses his tracks in Florida.

Plant built up eight hotels in Florida that cost as much as THREE MILLION DOLLARS to build and furnish.

How many are still standing?

TWO!

But the Belleview Biltmore is in danger. Their current owners wants to DEMOLISH the largest wood-frame structure in Florida and a beautiful example of Victorian architecture.

We need to stop them.

URGENT, URGENT, URGENT!! BELLEAIR TOWN MEETING: Tuesday January 17, 2011. 7:30 p.m. Belleair town officials will be discussing the fate of the Belleview Biltmore Hotel. It is EXTREMELY important that you contact all your friends and to attend this meeting to speak out and show your support to SAVE THE BILTMORE!. KAWA will be submitting a demolition permit shortly, possibly in January, and it is IMPERATIVE that Belleair officials KNOW at THIS meeting that you continue to want the Biltmore saved.

They need to know you want them to DENY the demolition permit!

The Belleair town hall is at 901 Ponce de Leon Blvd, Belleair, FL

ONE MINUTE EMAIL CAMPAIGN: For those of you who are unable to attend this VERY important meeting, I urge you to write Belleair officials an email encouraging them to deny the demolition permit and to continue to save the Biltmore as a hotel. Feel free to write your own thoughts or you may copy this email below and send it to them. It will only take one minute! WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! Simply copy and paste the eaddresses below to your email program and then either write your own email or copy and paste the enclosed email and SEND IMMEDIATELY!

Mayor Gary Katica, Commissioners Stephen Fowler, Tom Shelly, Kevin Piccarreto and Michael Wilkinson and Town Manager, Micah Maxwell

gkatica@townofbelleair.net,sfowler@townofbelleair.net, tshelly@townofbelleair.net,kpiccarreto@townofbelleair.net, mwilkinson@townofbelleair.net,mimaxwel@tampabay.rr.com

Sample copy and paste this email to send or write your own:

Honorable Mayor Katica and Belleair Commissioners:

I urge you to continue to save your historic Victorian Belleview Biltmore Hotel for my generation and future generations to enjoy. The historic 2005 preservation ordinance was passed by Belleair officials to protect this iconic structure against demolition by neglect and developers who want to destroy it for their own personal monetary gain. I hope you deny any demolition permit that is proposed to you this year or any time in the future. Citizens placed their trust in you to follow through with and enforce your own ordinance to save The White Queen of the Gulf now and forever.

Sincerely,

Once known as the Hotel Belleview, it has hosted such famous guests as the Duke of Windsor, President George Bush, President Jimmy Carter, President Gerald Ford, the Vanderbilts, the Pew family of Sun Oil, the Studebakers, the DuPonts, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Lady Margaret Thatcher, baseball legends Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and entertainers Tony Bennett, Bob Dylan and Carol Channing.

We should give our grandchildren better than plaques telling them what USED to be there!

Find out more here:
http://www.savethebiltmore.com/

Peek-a-boo!

Can you spot who I was playing peek-a-boo with in my neighbor's backyard?