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Coordinated “set”

Nov 4th, 2011 by

IMG_9041 by Meetzorp
IMG_9041, a photo by Meetzorp on Flickr.

In the past three years, I have found three different suitcases. Each is a different brand and color (or pattern) but somehow, they all look really good together!

IMG_9042
I meant to take the orange Samsonite along on our vacation to Chicago, but then we thought we were going to end up staying in a Youth Hostel (we didn’t, ultimately) and I thought that something that couldn’t easily be stowed in a locker (e.g. a hard-side case).

Oh yeah…I guess I didn’t mention that we went on vacation to Chicago pretty about a month ago. We ended up staying in The Heart of Chicago Motel, which was comfortable, convenient, and clean – the main things a motel room ought to be.

IMG_9948
Also, it has fantastic bathrooms! I so seriously covet that floor tile! Maybe in green? Gosh and golly, but it’s pretty.
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They’ve got a pretty awesome sign, too.

So, we did a lot of fun and exciting things in Chicago. We visited the Field Museum – Below you can see Joel and I posing awkwardly near a dinosaur skeleton:
Picture 039
I vastly dislike having my picture taken. Hence the look of, “dude, are you done yet????” Being photobombed by Sue the Tyrannosaur helps, though. She takes some of the tension out of the scene, don’t you think?

We went to the ballet which was delightful. Completely freakin’ amazing, actually.

The Joffrey Ballet is generally acknowledged to be kind of a big deal. Due to good luck and uncanny timing, we got to see the premiere performance of Don Quixote, a ballet that couldn’t have been more fun and entertaining in any possible way. The music was lively and lovely (this is the whole thing, but played by a different orchestra at a completely other time – but if you are curious as to how it sounds, this is the place to go!), the dancers were all beautifully skilled performers, and the interpretation of the story worked just perfectly. Moreover, the ballet was performed in Louis Sullivan‘s landmark Auditorium Theater, which is actually awe inspiring. You go in there, and the place is constructed of “wow” as much as it is of stone, brick, and plaster.

Among the other fabulous, if slightly daunting cultural delights of which we partook was a visit to the the Art Institute Museum, home of Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon at the Island of La Grande Jatte, which is a painting I have admired in books since I was a little girl. It’s not just the monkey on a leash that charms me (though of course it’s a factor). It’s mostly the whole scene of everyone just soaking up the sun, kicking back, and having a good gossip with their friends. Also the bustles. I’ve loved 1880s fashion with an unreasonable ardor since I was a kid, and these bustles are at their most jutting peak of bootyliciousness.

And speaking of bootylicious, I have to give it up to Jan Sanders van Hemessen’s interpretation of the biblical tale of Judith slaying Holofernes.
Judith, as portrayed by Jan Sanders Van Hemessen
Van Hemessen made Judith naked and sexy, insinuating that she’d made as if to seduce ol’ Holofernes before slaying the everloving hell out of the old rake.

I developed quite a crush on Judith.
Judith is going to cut a bitch
I’d say she presaged Rosie the Riveter by about 400 years.

She looks ready to whoop some ass, and no mistake.

I’ve got a dreadfully irreverent reverence for the fine arts. I really do enjoy and appreciate these things, but I find myself almost constitutionally unable to discuss them in any serious fashion. My take on classical music? Break out the whole or-kestra and tear that mutha downnn!

Posted in Adventures, NaBloPoMo 2011, Travel | 2 Comments »

HOW TO: Get chronological Facebook updates, like everyone wants in four easy steps.

Nov 3rd, 2011 by

Facebook. Freakin’ Facebook. It’s a love/hate website, that’s for sure. It’s fun to keep up with your friends, see your old schoolmates’ babies, check out your co-workers Spotify picks, hand out party invites, RSVP to same…it’s a daily ritual that many of us enjoy. Mostly.

But Facebook has a habit of inventing new ways to mess with your information, from labyrinthine and sketchy privacy policies, unsightly “tickers,” and continually re-arranging or hiding the features just as we’ve gotten accustomed to the most recent stupid changes.

The most recent indignation, about which people are STILL bitching two months later, was the introduction of some sort of new algorithm which ultimately hides posts from friends you haven’t interacted with much, and which sorts content not by a chronological timeline, as one would expect, but by some sort of popularity ranking that has many of us missing out on fun, interesting, or exciting posts from people we actually DO want to read, even if we don’t comment or “like” all of their stuff, all the time. It also penalises users like myself, who don’t check in on Facebook except for once or twice a day, and therefore end up getting “behind” on everyone’s news.

So, I have asked around and gotten suggestions on how to manipulate my feed, and the most satisfying fix so far is as follows: you create a customized list of everyone you want to hear from. In my case, that’s pretty much everyone on my Friends list (I don’t friend people I don’t like!). When you switch to viewing the custom list, it shows each member’s posts, in the order in which they posted them. Voila! Chronological posting, as nature and the clock intended it.

Click on any image to enlarge it. You know the drill, Internetians.

Step 1: Create a list

The option for creating lists will be in your left hand sidebar.

2. Name your list

What it says on the tin.

3. Add Friends – the crucial element:

Once you click on the above, it will give you a pictorial listing of your entire catalogue of friends. Go on and click everyone you ever want to hear from again, ever. It may take ages if you have friended every person you have ever met. If, however, you are slightly curmudgeonly, it may take no more than a minute or two:

Alphabetical friendlies!

While you are at it, you can also add pages or groups that you want to see news from in your customized list feed:

The little drop-down menu in the upper left hand side of this box toggles between a list of your friends and a list of your pages.

4. ENJOY your new Facebook feed that makes sense, that presents your friends’ posts in the order in which they are posted, which, in short, doesn’t suck at all, not even a little bit.

Hope this helps. Happy Facebooking!

Posted in Art Projects & Making Things, Distractions, dumb things I have done, grumbles gripes and pointless bitching, Lists, meta, Notions and Rants, Photo entries, Take A Look At This, Well I'll Be Darned | No Comments »

Give me a boot to the head

Nov 3rd, 2011 by

1995 graduation photo

Once upon a time, I owned the most awesome, perfect, kick-assedy boots that ever kicked ass. They were fuckin’ rad, and I wore the everloving crap out of them. My classmates at school thought they were awful, and I took a lot of guff for my big stompy boots (oddly, during an era when it was fashionable to wear Dr. Martens with diaphanous babydoll dresses). These boots were a standing fashion statement with me, so much so that I immortalized them in my Senior portrait (see above).

I still own them, worn out, ancient, and debased as they may be, as I have yet to find another pair of boots that holds a candle to them. The heels are nearly worn through, and the steel shanks that once supported the arches fell out years ago. I rarely wear them except for once in a great while, when an outfit really, truly, madly needs a hot injection of BADASS.

I am wearing them tomorrow.

But the time has come…it has come and gone…for a pair of replacement boots to come into my life.

Initially, I thought that these Thoroughgood boots were the answer to my question. For lo, they are tall, badassy, Made In America, and awfully stylish.
Thoroughgood Awesome Lineman's Boot
Unfortunately, they have discontinued my size. Woe!

I could go with a classic, and get the ol’ trusty Dr. Martens.
Delightful Docs
I already know they’ll fit. They’re durable. They’re a classic style. They’re pretty cool. The price isn’t bad, all things considered. Dr. Marten’s boots are good value for the money. Also, there is a song about them:

Recently, I tried to order a pair, but they were out of all of the sizes except for 5, which is too small. I have e-mailed Dr. Marten’s and they say they’ll be re-stocking, so there is something in that.

But while I was being denied by Dr. Marten, I cast about on Shoebuy a bit, and came across these, which are highly, insanely, madly covetable.
Frye Awesomeness
Also highly, insanely, madly expensive. They appear to be re-soleable and re-heelable. I intend to contact Frye and find out. If they are, considering my track record (I’ve been nursing along my old badass boots since 1993) these could actually be a good investment. If I took care of them, got them re-soled or heeled as needed, that $400 could be amortized over another…15+ years: that wouldn’t be too bad at all, really.

Obvs., if I were to buy the Fryes, I’d have to save up for a while, so I’d have to decide if they really are $400 worth of awesome. Hrmmmm, what to do, what to do?

Posted in Fashion, NaBloPoMo 2011, nostalgia, Shopping | 3 Comments »

Soup-a-soup, tasty soup spicy carrot and coriander

Nov 2nd, 2011 by

So yeah, I’ve been making a crapton of soup lately since it’s fall and all.

Last week, I did make a variant on carrot-and-coriander. It also involved ginger, red lentils, and garbanzo beans. It was really, really good. I made the broth basically of the pureed carrot/cilantro stuff, then added a bit of coriander (ground cilantro seeds) and cumin. I used these vegan fake chicken broth cubes for the stock. It’s good stuff, those bouillon cubes; pity the name is so dorktastic. That’s a big problem I see with a lot of vegetarian/vegan products: really twee or pun-laden names that are so dumb you just about don’t want to buy the product. Oh well, it was a damn good soup, dorky stock notwithstanding.

On the same day that I made the carrot-and-coriander, I made a butternut squash soup (I made two vats of soup and froze a bunch). I had on hand a couple of smoked onions that I’d grilled outside over coals, so I pureed those in with the squash, and two of the aforementioned bouillon cubes. Then I crumbled in a bit of rosemary, and let it simmer with a couple of bay leaves. I bulked out the broth with a couple of cups of cooked pearl barley and a can of garbanzo beans (I’ve been really digging on the garbanzos lately – and don’t let me hear you calling them “chickpeas.” Could a bean be more awkwardly and non-euphoniously named? “Garbanzo” can be spoken with infinitely more flourish than “Chickpea.”)

Anyway, tonight, I made a huge pot (4 quarts!) of vegetable soup. I sauteed a leek, a couple of stalks of chopped celery and my last smoked onion until soft, then pureed 2/3 of the onion/celery/leek mixture. This, a couple of tablespoons of Better Than Bouillon (I’m out of the dorky artificial chicken cubes) and a couple of bay leaves formed the base of my soup. To that I added five small brown potatoes, cubed, three carrots, diced, two more stalks of celery, diced, a couple of cups of cooked pearl barley, and a handful of brown lentils. Oh, and a can of “crushed tomatoes.” There was also a teaspoon of coriander, two of turmeric, and a teaspoon of cumin. Turned out to be a pretty nice combination.

I’ve got two more big ol’ butternut squashes in the fridge downstairs. One of these days pretty soon here, I think I will bake them, then see about making a different butternut soup, plus save back some of the squash and make something akin to pumpkin muffins, but with butternut instead.

Posted in Food & Snacks, NaBloPoMo 2011 | 2 Comments »

heh heh heh – she said “Blow”

Nov 1st, 2011 by

So, my dumb ass has decided to participate in NoBloPoMo, or whatever the hell they call it. Because I am crazy. Also because I feel like I could use a swift blogging kick in the pants and that may be the boot to administer it. Or something like that.

And because it is late and I am lame, I am starting off November with something dumb that I am really enthusiastic about: the new Beavis & Butthead.

It’s as delightfully vapid, violent, crude, disgusting, and FUCKING HILARIOUS as it always was. It’s better than ever. I could not possibly be more stoked about a TV show if I tried. There’s nothing like the Great Cornholio to lift a girl’s spirits.

Tags:

Posted in Distractions, dumb things I have done, NaBloPoMo 2011, Recommendations, Utter Silliness, videos | No Comments »

Annual vet visit highlights

Oct 29th, 2011 by

  • Ruby continues to hold steady at just under 50lb, therefore she continues to qualify for the cheaper heartworm preventative.  Rejoicing commences.
  • Griswald behaves himself in the car – minor bitching only, no yowls of evisceration.  Moreover, he completely fails to piss himself.  Earns reward of catnip upon return home.
  • Minnie, on the other hand, manages to produce a shit of epic stench shortly after embarking on our return trip.  The drive home was nearly unbearable, even with the windows down.
  • This leads to a song being spontaneously generated to the tune of <a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSih4o2YfmA”>Somebody Put Something In My Drink”</a> with the refrain of “somebody, somebody did a doodie in my truck.”

And so, now everyone is vaccinated for the year 2012, Ruby has her next six months of heartworm preventative, and I need to go hose out a PetTaxi and maybe hit it with a little bleach.

Posted in Beastlies, Cats, Ruby the Dog, Super-Short Entries | No Comments »

Some of what I’ve been up to

Oct 2nd, 2011 by

I had to replace my computer. I knew something was amiss with it; it crashed constantly, but especially whenever I was doing ANYTHING with photos…which is about half of my computer-using activity, so it was pretty frustrating. Fortunately, I gave up and took it in to the repair shop before anything went awry with the hard-drive, so they were able to transfer all of my pictures, music, writing, and myriad Japanese music videos to a fresh, new computer without any drama.

Joel’s computer had been dying a slow death for the past year, as well, so we replaced two computers in one fell swoop. A bit of a shock to the bank account, but fortunately, neither of us desires or requires a serious hot-rod computer, so not nearly as bad as it could have been if we were graphic designers or gamers.

So now that I have a computer that won’t have a violent hissyfit whenever I want to upload a photo, and won’t lock up when I switch from one window to another, here are some pictures of the tops I have made in the past couple of months.

Crossover, kimono-inspired tunic
I made this top back in late June, I think. It’s made of a cotton/rayon jersey knit with a strange abstract floral print.
IMG_9045
The pattern I used was Vogue 8769. Unfortunately, this is one of those patterns that didn’t have a photo on the front of the envelope, or I’d have known to cut a size smaller than my normal. It ended up being much less fitted than I’d anticipated and is more “tunic-y” than I’d have preferred. Still, I like the fabric and at least it doesn’t make me look pregnant, so it’s okay. If I ever use this pattern again, though, I will be cutting it down just a bit.
Seam binding lace to finish the inside of the neckline
One thing that turned out quite well was the stretch lace I used for seam-binding around the neckline. It made a beautiful, tidy finish, and I feel a bit fancy just knowing that it is there.

Wraparound tee.
This Simplicity turned out just like I had hoped it would. This pattern is a keeper and will be a repeat-build. I’d already sampled success with another of the designs in this pattern, and had high hopes for the top you see above.
Simplicity 4076 View D
This is the other top, in some daffy pin-up girl-print lycra I found at a local thrift shop. Not counting the price of the pattern, this is a $0.50 tee-shirt.
IMG_9039
Simplicity 4076 – definitely a good buy. I’ve made views B and D now.

IMG_9046
This one I just made a couple of weeks ago…and worn it about once a week since then.
IMG_9038
It’s another Vogue which turned out just a bit wider than I’d expected. I could take it in along a couple of seam lines – if I weren’t so lazy, I suppose.

I really like this design. I have a solid brown sleeveless top from Talbot’s that has this same sort of neckline and I think it is a kind of clever design. Next time, though I will extend the back facing so that the collar can be folded down like a shawl collar if I want to wear it that way, too. As drafted, the bottom of the facing shows if you fold the collar down. Boo to that.

I’ll probably make up the funnel-neck option sometime, too. I like that sort of exaggerated turtle neck far better than a bias-cut cowl neckline which always pouches out weird over my chest.

It’s funny, a few years ago, it seemed like all of the Simplicity patterns were running large, now apparently Vogue is upsizing while Simplicity is running true to measure. Weird. Simplicity has really upped their game in the past few years. Five, six years ago, I barely even considered Simplicity as a viable option. Most of my picks came from McCall’s or Vogue. While McCall’s is still representing, and Vogue consistently has a lot of really cute options, Simplicity has been offering a strong range of actually fashionable and functional designs. And usually at a lower price point than the McCall’s/Vogue/Butterick triumvirate.

Posted in Sewing | No Comments »

Junk in the trunk shrunk

Sep 23rd, 2011 by

If you’re a fan of Zippy the Pinhead, you probably know that Zippy sometimes gets obsessed with an interesting word or turn of phrase and will get “stuck” repeating it like a mantra.

If you’ve hung around me or my website for very long, you know that this is a commonality I share with Zippy. I seem to remember that Mimi Smartypants also shares this proclivity to adopt ad hoc mantras based upon unusual words or phrases.

Anyway, the phrase that I am currently fighting myself to suppress the urge to exclaim repeatedly, and publicly, is “hairy-handed sex pest.”

After having constructed this phrase in an internet comment thread while recommending a blog (more on this in a moment), this phrase has now taken on a life of its own, and it really, really wants to roam free. Sadly, there are far too few occasions upon which it is appropriate to utter the words “hairy” “handed” “sex” and “pest” in conjunction with each other.

Boo.

So on to why I needed to bring the phrase “hairy-handed sex pest” into the world…

I’m an avid reader and fairly frequent commenter on the FANTASTIC website XO, Jane, which is basically Sassy Magazine, all grown up and on the Internet. The article in which the H-HSP was brought forth was a semi-innocent story about a young woman who was suffering insomnia, so in an attempt to kill some time (and get inspiration for a beauty products article) she started “trolling” a chatbot. The chatbot, in turn, kept trying very hard to lure this author into a dirty website. The results, predictably, were deliciously silly. Being as my brain is hard-wired to draw comparisons, I was immediately reminded of Antonia of Whoopee (Yet Another Blooming Blog)’s story about trolling naughty chatrooms with fictitious characters who suffered debilitating physical maladies, were compelled to sell home appliances, or otherwise carried on in a distinctively and determinedly non-sexy fashion.

In suggesting to Cat that she check out Antonia’s story, I’m afraid I said:

Cat, for various reasons, I think you would enjoy Antonia Cornwell’s hobby of messing with people in sexy chatrooms. She invents several personae who then proceed to utterly discombobulate whatever hairy-handed sex pests are hanging around in the chatroom. I’ve provided a link below to her story about such escapades.

http://yetanotherbloomingblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/xxx-rated.html

And so now you know, whether you wanted to or not, why the phrase “hairy-handed sex pest” is, for better or worse, now a part of my dysfunctional lexicon.

HAIRY-HANDED SEX PEST!

I feel much better now.

Posted in Distractions, Utter Silliness, Words I Like | No Comments »

“Feck awffff”

Sep 22nd, 2011 by

"Feck awffff" by Meetzorp
"Feck awffff", a photo by Meetzorp on Flickr.

This cross-looking turtle reminds me strikingly of Father Jack from the old sitcom “Father Ted.”

Feck!

Drink!

Arse!

Posted in Too lazy to classify | 2 Comments »

Old-home weekend

Sep 17th, 2011 by

IMG_7955 by Meetzorp
IMG_7955, a photo by Meetzorp on Flickr.

Audrey and I sprung a surprise visit on our Mom for her birthday back at the end of August. I was tickled at how well my dumpster-dive suitcase coordinates with the linoleum in the downstairs bedroom.

Posted in Too lazy to classify | 1 Comment »

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