I haven't been posting here much, as you may have noticed.
The thing is, I don't think I'm a very good writer, and I don't know that I have all that much to say. I have the occasional desire to rant, but I don't know that that justifies having a blog.
The sock monkeys that I have been making have proved to be very popular. So, I'm going to try my hand at selling them online and see where that goes. I'm dropping the psuedonym and starting a new blog. I have opened an etsy store (though not with any inventory, yet) and my new blog will mostly be a place where I can showcase the monkeys I've made that already have homes, though I will also keep writing from time-to-time on random topics.
Showing posts with label Fun Stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fun Stuff. Show all posts
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Friday, September 05, 2008
The Things I do for my Team
This is one of the images I was thinking of using for fantasy football trophies. This picture of Dave Wannstedt has to be hosted somewhere, and it doesn't seem to work from where I found it. Basically, this post is just so that I have a place to save this picture. Enjoy!
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Fashion 911
I have a fashion emergency.
I am going to a black-tie gala on Friday. I didn't realize it was black tie until yesterday. I bought this dress from Macy's. I got really lucky. It was like 65% off plus yesterday was the last day of a friends and family event where any customer in the store qualified as friend & family and I got an extra 20% off.
I am going to a black-tie gala on Friday. I didn't realize it was black tie until yesterday. I bought this dress from Macy's. I got really lucky. It was like 65% off plus yesterday was the last day of a friends and family event where any customer in the store qualified as friend & family and I got an extra 20% off.
It's not quite so neon, more of a kelly green, really.
My problem is shoes. And a purse. I was thinking I would wear the hot hot hot and so comfortable white patent leather pumps that I wore at my wedding. But, I also just ordered these from Zappos.com. I also have a white patent faux-leather clutch.
Here are the big questions:
1. Is white shoes with a white purse just too much?
2. Is a white patent clutch just no good to begin with? I love it, but sometimes, I am a little tacky.
3. It is supposed to rain on Friday. I have a black trench, but I know that, if it is raining, I will be cold. Is it ok to wear a bronz-ish wrap? It's a fake pashmina, but it isn't super-fancy. Sometimes I wear it with jeans. It is a for-serious black-tie deal - Mr is renting a tux. I don't want to look out of place.
4. What the heck do I do about accessories? Necklace? Earrings? Arg!
Dear readers, if you are out there, please help me. I'm a fashion moron when it comes to myself.
ps - the shoes may be a moot point. I ordered from Zappos, but they've stopped advertising and guaranteeing free overnight shipping. They claim that most customers will still get it overnight, but they only promise 4-5 business days. This will be the topic of another post, soon.Thursday, March 27, 2008
Monkeys!
First, there was Harry:
Harry is not a pretty monkey, but he is loved. I tried, but I knew the first time around wouldn't be the best.
Next came Gene:
Who knew the second try would turn out so well? I got hooked. The following is my little monkey brood, all together for possibly the last time.
From left to right, in order of creation: Harry, Gene (gift for a friend having a baby), siblings Martha and Eddie (gift for a friend having twins), [Not pictured: Hanes, made from boy-sized socks. He's a white and silver sweatsock monkey, and mid-sized. Hanes was almost immediately adopted by the lovely wife of a friend of mine who saw Gene and felt a deep need for a monkey of her own) and the newest edition, little Pete.
Pete is pretty much the cutest thing ever. I stole - I mean, was inspired by an etsy shop of monkeys, which I didn't bookmark. I will find it and link to it. Anyway, I saw some monkeys on etsy with little felt half-moons for the eye area and the idea stuck with me. I would have kept to buttons except that Gene's adoptive family took me up on my offer to replace his button eyes with embroidered ones. Since I've never embroidered anything before, I decided to test it out on little Petey here. Pete was also a test to see if I could successfully handle baby socks.
Pete is, quite possibly, the most successful test of anything, ever, and I think I will keep him for myself for all time. He's got my first all-embroidered face, which I think turned out rather well. He's also got my first attempt at some new limb-attachment techniques, which I learned from a book I just got called Stupid Sock Creatures.
I haven't made any Stupid Creatures yet, but I plan on it soon. I'll be sure to keep you posted.
And, in case you're wondering, Gene's cosmetic surgery went off rather well. The button eyes give much more personality than my limited embroidery skills, so I had to add eyebrows to Gene. Please don't say anything about his scar, he's very sensitive about it.
Harry is not a pretty monkey, but he is loved. I tried, but I knew the first time around wouldn't be the best.
Next came Gene:
Who knew the second try would turn out so well? I got hooked. The following is my little monkey brood, all together for possibly the last time.
From left to right, in order of creation: Harry, Gene (gift for a friend having a baby), siblings Martha and Eddie (gift for a friend having twins), [Not pictured: Hanes, made from boy-sized socks. He's a white and silver sweatsock monkey, and mid-sized. Hanes was almost immediately adopted by the lovely wife of a friend of mine who saw Gene and felt a deep need for a monkey of her own) and the newest edition, little Pete.
Pete is pretty much the cutest thing ever. I stole - I mean, was inspired by an etsy shop of monkeys, which I didn't bookmark. I will find it and link to it. Anyway, I saw some monkeys on etsy with little felt half-moons for the eye area and the idea stuck with me. I would have kept to buttons except that Gene's adoptive family took me up on my offer to replace his button eyes with embroidered ones. Since I've never embroidered anything before, I decided to test it out on little Petey here. Pete was also a test to see if I could successfully handle baby socks.Pete is, quite possibly, the most successful test of anything, ever, and I think I will keep him for myself for all time. He's got my first all-embroidered face, which I think turned out rather well. He's also got my first attempt at some new limb-attachment techniques, which I learned from a book I just got called Stupid Sock Creatures.
I haven't made any Stupid Creatures yet, but I plan on it soon. I'll be sure to keep you posted.
And, in case you're wondering, Gene's cosmetic surgery went off rather well. The button eyes give much more personality than my limited embroidery skills, so I had to add eyebrows to Gene. Please don't say anything about his scar, he's very sensitive about it.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Girl's Guide: Home Repair
When we moved in to our house, as I was reveling at the glory of a whole laundry room (as opposed to the laundry closet we used to have), I noticed that our washing machine had been rigged in some way. Usually, if you open a washing machine during the spin cycle, it will stop spinning. This is because it would be dangerous to reach in there , and people are dumb. I didn't think much of it at the time.
Then, I decided to wash a blanket. The machine stopped right before the spin cycle. I went down and saw my blanket sitting in a lot of water, and soapy. I tried just starting the machine over again, and the same thing happened. So I tried it again.
Because I'm brilliant.
I figured I had broken the machine because our addition was finished, and the bathroom was finished, and we were thinking about maybe, someday, having some spare cash to buy a couch, so it would make sense that now I would do something stupid and break the machine and cost us basically another grand.
Because being a home owner has taught me to be an optimist.
Thankfully, I was wrong. The rigging for the lid switch had broken. This is what had been making my washing machine work:
A lid switch basically functions like this: There is a little tab on the washer lid that fits into a hole on the machine. When you close the lid, the tab hits a lever, which closes the circuit to the wiring in the machine, that tells it that it is ok to spin.
Of course, I did not know that it was a lid switch problem, or what a lid switch was, until I did some searching on the internet. The internet told me that it would cost about $15 to replace the part and that I (yes! Me!) could fix it myself. Getting a guy out to replace the $15 part would cost about $100 plus parts plus labor. That's more plus than I'm looking for, so I found directions for taking the washing machine apart and got to work fixing it my damn self.
First, obviously, I had to get a new lid switch. Thankfully, Sears Service Centers are conveniently located near you (or my husband's office). They had one lid switch for our model washing machine. It's more like $25, but still ok with me. Of course, Mr kept forgetting to go pick it up, so it was a week later (and now a desperate laundry situation) that I finally went my damn self.
Naturally, being a week later, they do not have the part. But lo! A new Sears has opened a mere two minutes from my house (as opposed to the 30 it took to drive to the first one) and it seems they have it in stock. I drove over there, and, naturally, they do not have it in stock. A snotty saleswoman informs me that they just recently moved to that location, so their inventory is "all messed up." She offers to order it for me, but I won't get it for three years. I decline, and order it myself at home, because Sears will feel my wrath and lose my $25 sale.
However, now we need clothes. I can't even just buy new ones because I prefer to wash my clothes before I wear them. So I soldier on, determined to fix it temporarily until I get the part.
First step: pry off the side caps. They look like they're permanent, and it feels like you're breaking your washing machine, but you aren't. Just get a screw driver (preferably a flat head) and wedge it under one of the corners of the end caps and pop it off.
Take off both end caps and unscrew the screws that they were hiding. Then, you just have to flip that control panel part up. Only it isn't just an easy flip. The next picture is a bit fuzzy. It is also on its side. The left-hand side is actually the top. See the little white thingy poking out of the black metal part? That is basically a hinge. Once you pop the end caps off, you have to work the whole control panel up until the white thingies on both sides move up that groove and into the top part, where they will have room to move.
Then it will just flip up:
Pretty cool, right?
Ok, next, you pop out those gold doo-dads, which connect the cover to the back and base. Again, just use the screw driver to pry them out. This takes a little bit of muscle, but isn't as nerve-wracking because those gold doo-dads clearly work on tension, so you don't have to worry about breaking them. They tend to really pop out though, so make sure you don't lose them when they go flying.
(Look how gross it gets under the console. Who knew?) The next part is a little scary, but also fun. If you go up to the picture with the control panel flipped back, you'll see a bundle of wires leading to a clear-ish white tab heading into the cover. You have to disconnect them by taking the screw driver again and prying the tab on the big tab up.
Then, you walk the cover off of your washing machine. Once the cover is no longer secured to the back, washing machines are really, really flimsy. In reality, a washing machine is a big barrel with a thin metal box around it. Without some reinforcements, they wiggle a lot.
To replace the lid switch, you have to basically get inside the washing machine cover.
In the next picture, you can see the switch. It's the gray plastic thingy. See the little white plastic post? That is supposed to be pushing down a little lever, which broke off, which is when the previous owners used a zip tie to hold down the broken tab, which eventually broke off.
It is connected by the screw on the right-hand side, which is also grounding the wires. Everything else is in clips that you can just pull out. It's surprisingly simple. If your machine is broken, I highly recommend the site I linked to above - they have pretty good instructions. Plus, it never occurred to me to take a picture of the new switch. Oops. Anyway, since I didn't have a new switch when I did the first fix, this is how I solved the problem:
Electrical tape is good, because it is stretchy, so you can really get a tight fit. Sadly, this worked for only a short time, but long enough to get a few loads of laundry done and carry us through until the replacement switch arrived.
Check it out:
Then, I decided to wash a blanket. The machine stopped right before the spin cycle. I went down and saw my blanket sitting in a lot of water, and soapy. I tried just starting the machine over again, and the same thing happened. So I tried it again.
Because I'm brilliant.
I figured I had broken the machine because our addition was finished, and the bathroom was finished, and we were thinking about maybe, someday, having some spare cash to buy a couch, so it would make sense that now I would do something stupid and break the machine and cost us basically another grand.
Because being a home owner has taught me to be an optimist.
Thankfully, I was wrong. The rigging for the lid switch had broken. This is what had been making my washing machine work:
A lid switch basically functions like this: There is a little tab on the washer lid that fits into a hole on the machine. When you close the lid, the tab hits a lever, which closes the circuit to the wiring in the machine, that tells it that it is ok to spin.Of course, I did not know that it was a lid switch problem, or what a lid switch was, until I did some searching on the internet. The internet told me that it would cost about $15 to replace the part and that I (yes! Me!) could fix it myself. Getting a guy out to replace the $15 part would cost about $100 plus parts plus labor. That's more plus than I'm looking for, so I found directions for taking the washing machine apart and got to work fixing it my damn self.
First, obviously, I had to get a new lid switch. Thankfully, Sears Service Centers are conveniently located near you (or my husband's office). They had one lid switch for our model washing machine. It's more like $25, but still ok with me. Of course, Mr kept forgetting to go pick it up, so it was a week later (and now a desperate laundry situation) that I finally went my damn self.
Naturally, being a week later, they do not have the part. But lo! A new Sears has opened a mere two minutes from my house (as opposed to the 30 it took to drive to the first one) and it seems they have it in stock. I drove over there, and, naturally, they do not have it in stock. A snotty saleswoman informs me that they just recently moved to that location, so their inventory is "all messed up." She offers to order it for me, but I won't get it for three years. I decline, and order it myself at home, because Sears will feel my wrath and lose my $25 sale.
However, now we need clothes. I can't even just buy new ones because I prefer to wash my clothes before I wear them. So I soldier on, determined to fix it temporarily until I get the part.
First step: pry off the side caps. They look like they're permanent, and it feels like you're breaking your washing machine, but you aren't. Just get a screw driver (preferably a flat head) and wedge it under one of the corners of the end caps and pop it off.
Take off both end caps and unscrew the screws that they were hiding. Then, you just have to flip that control panel part up. Only it isn't just an easy flip. The next picture is a bit fuzzy. It is also on its side. The left-hand side is actually the top. See the little white thingy poking out of the black metal part? That is basically a hinge. Once you pop the end caps off, you have to work the whole control panel up until the white thingies on both sides move up that groove and into the top part, where they will have room to move.
Then it will just flip up:
Pretty cool, right?
Ok, next, you pop out those gold doo-dads, which connect the cover to the back and base. Again, just use the screw driver to pry them out. This takes a little bit of muscle, but isn't as nerve-wracking because those gold doo-dads clearly work on tension, so you don't have to worry about breaking them. They tend to really pop out though, so make sure you don't lose them when they go flying.
(Look how gross it gets under the console. Who knew?) The next part is a little scary, but also fun. If you go up to the picture with the control panel flipped back, you'll see a bundle of wires leading to a clear-ish white tab heading into the cover. You have to disconnect them by taking the screw driver again and prying the tab on the big tab up.
Then, you walk the cover off of your washing machine. Once the cover is no longer secured to the back, washing machines are really, really flimsy. In reality, a washing machine is a big barrel with a thin metal box around it. Without some reinforcements, they wiggle a lot.
To replace the lid switch, you have to basically get inside the washing machine cover.
In the next picture, you can see the switch. It's the gray plastic thingy. See the little white plastic post? That is supposed to be pushing down a little lever, which broke off, which is when the previous owners used a zip tie to hold down the broken tab, which eventually broke off.
It is connected by the screw on the right-hand side, which is also grounding the wires. Everything else is in clips that you can just pull out. It's surprisingly simple. If your machine is broken, I highly recommend the site I linked to above - they have pretty good instructions. Plus, it never occurred to me to take a picture of the new switch. Oops. Anyway, since I didn't have a new switch when I did the first fix, this is how I solved the problem:
Electrical tape is good, because it is stretchy, so you can really get a tight fit. Sadly, this worked for only a short time, but long enough to get a few loads of laundry done and carry us through until the replacement switch arrived.
Check it out:
Sunday, January 13, 2008
The Right Person Will Still Think the Sun Shines Out of Your Ass
Go see "Juno."
It is so good. Every single performance. And so sweet. Everyone should have a Bleeker. I can't possibly do it justice here. Just go see it.
Unless you are struggling with infertility. Then, maybe don't see it. Jennifer Garner is so good as a woman just desperate to be a mother. I could hardly stand it and I only know others who have been there. I can't imagine sitting through that and holding it together if I was there myself.
It is so good. Every single performance. And so sweet. Everyone should have a Bleeker. I can't possibly do it justice here. Just go see it.
Unless you are struggling with infertility. Then, maybe don't see it. Jennifer Garner is so good as a woman just desperate to be a mother. I could hardly stand it and I only know others who have been there. I can't imagine sitting through that and holding it together if I was there myself.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Thursday, November 01, 2007
NaBloPoMo - we meet again
I'm going to try again. I don't make any promises, but I will try.
We got back from Hawai'i yesterday at 4:55am. It was a horrific flight back, but a wonderful, wonderful vacation. I will post pictures and more details soon.
The wedding went off with only a small hitch - the limo driver got lost on the way to the ceremony, so I was about 20 minutes late to my own wedding. Really, it is a small miracle that I managed to get my hair done, get lost on the way back to the hotel, and still manage to be dressed and ready to go ON TIME. I was actually, I think, about five minutes early. The limo showed up late, and then fifteen minutes after we had left (the church is about seven minutes away, tops) we passed the hotel AGAIN. I finally had to holler directions to him from the back of the limo. My dress was way too big for me to crawl up there and give him directions politely. But, it all worked out, I got married and had a blast. I think everyone enjoyed themselves.
Our band was awesome: The Bill Pollack Orchestra. They are not cheap, but if you are throwing a party in the Chicagoland area and you want everyone to dance their butts off, it is totally worth it.
My photographer was fantastic. You can see pictures of our wedding on his blog: www.kmophoto.com, click on "blog." His server has been wonky today, so there's no knowing if you'll get in or not, but eventually, you will, and it is good. For those of you who were there and/or in it, I'll be sending out a link soon to all the pictures, so you can order if you want. Right now, I can't get to the link, but I'll send it soon.
Neither of those people paid me to promote them, but I loved them so much, I thought I'd spread the word.
I'll post soon with pictures and more details. In the meantime, this is the best jack-o-lantern I have ever seen. Seriously, that is fantastic.
We got back from Hawai'i yesterday at 4:55am. It was a horrific flight back, but a wonderful, wonderful vacation. I will post pictures and more details soon.
The wedding went off with only a small hitch - the limo driver got lost on the way to the ceremony, so I was about 20 minutes late to my own wedding. Really, it is a small miracle that I managed to get my hair done, get lost on the way back to the hotel, and still manage to be dressed and ready to go ON TIME. I was actually, I think, about five minutes early. The limo showed up late, and then fifteen minutes after we had left (the church is about seven minutes away, tops) we passed the hotel AGAIN. I finally had to holler directions to him from the back of the limo. My dress was way too big for me to crawl up there and give him directions politely. But, it all worked out, I got married and had a blast. I think everyone enjoyed themselves.
Our band was awesome: The Bill Pollack Orchestra. They are not cheap, but if you are throwing a party in the Chicagoland area and you want everyone to dance their butts off, it is totally worth it.
My photographer was fantastic. You can see pictures of our wedding on his blog: www.kmophoto.com, click on "blog." His server has been wonky today, so there's no knowing if you'll get in or not, but eventually, you will, and it is good. For those of you who were there and/or in it, I'll be sending out a link soon to all the pictures, so you can order if you want. Right now, I can't get to the link, but I'll send it soon.
Neither of those people paid me to promote them, but I loved them so much, I thought I'd spread the word.
I'll post soon with pictures and more details. In the meantime, this is the best jack-o-lantern I have ever seen. Seriously, that is fantastic.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Concerts Meme
It has been a long time since I posted, so I have a lot I want to say, and several half-started posts hanging around, but I get sort of overwhelmed and so I don't post, still. Hopefully, this will get the momentum going. This is a meme from Mano...
Copy this list; leave in the bands you've seen perform live; delete the ones you haven't, and add new ones that you have seen until you reach 25. An asterisk means the previous person had it on their list. Two asterisks means the last two people who did this before you had that band on their list.
This was tough, and I had to go way back to my first show at 14 (at which my aunt convinced the bouncer I was 18 - he must have been in a good mood - and I smelled pot for the first time). Any guesses which one that is? I'm definitely leaving out a lot of shows, some of these are from high school, and some of them were big old tours where I got to see many awesome bands at one time. Here goes:
ani difranco***
Indigo Girls**
Dave Matthews Band*
Counting Crows*
Pete Yorn*
Dixie Chicks*
Ben Harper
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Huey Lewis and the News
Cake
The Flaming Lips
The White Stripes
Ben Folds / Five
Pat McCurdy
Little Feat
Camper Van Beethoven
Bob Dylan
Brian Wilson
Wilco
They Might Be Giants
Loudon Wainwright III
Modest Mouse
Squirrel Nut Zippers
Old 97's
Umphrey's Magee
Copy this list; leave in the bands you've seen perform live; delete the ones you haven't, and add new ones that you have seen until you reach 25. An asterisk means the previous person had it on their list. Two asterisks means the last two people who did this before you had that band on their list.
This was tough, and I had to go way back to my first show at 14 (at which my aunt convinced the bouncer I was 18 - he must have been in a good mood - and I smelled pot for the first time). Any guesses which one that is? I'm definitely leaving out a lot of shows, some of these are from high school, and some of them were big old tours where I got to see many awesome bands at one time. Here goes:
ani difranco***
Indigo Girls**
Dave Matthews Band*
Counting Crows*
Pete Yorn*
Dixie Chicks*
Ben Harper
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Huey Lewis and the News
Cake
The Flaming Lips
The White Stripes
Ben Folds / Five
Pat McCurdy
Little Feat
Camper Van Beethoven
Bob Dylan
Brian Wilson
Wilco
They Might Be Giants
Loudon Wainwright III
Modest Mouse
Squirrel Nut Zippers
Old 97's
Umphrey's Magee
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Tree Trauma
I'm still in the heat of studying. We got the BIG QUESTION, for which we have THREE HOURS to write an answer, yesterday. The test is a week from today. I think I'm developing TMJ. In the meantime, here's some pictures of destruction. At some point, I'll figure out how to post the video of the guys taking the tree off the house.
First picture: from the back door, looking towards the garage. What? You can't see anything? Just leaves? Yes, that's because everything in sight was overwhelmed by leaves and various other tree-parts that used to reside about fifty feet higher.
See? I wasn't exaggerating. Here's where the tree broke through the roof of the addition and one of the many, lovely, new water-spots we have popping up in all sorts of unexpected places.
Our porch in the lovely light of morning, filled with tree.
This is the view from behind the house. Note the now-squished looking corner of the top of the house. That's above my office. The tree must have hit there first, poking a few holes in the roof above the attic, which resulted in some water in my office. The little couch was slightly damp, but not too bad, so I'm keeping it. Thankfully, I had only recently moved my wedding dress to the other closet, which stayed totally dry. Also dry: the vintage guitar I inherited from my dad.
This is the view from my office window. Luckily, it is double-paned (pained?) glass, and only the outside pane was broken. So, it looks neat, but it is still water-proof. Unlike the roof.
This is the tree service cherry-picker attempting to get up the front lawn. Because the ground was so wet and slick, and the front lawn has a slight up-slope, he couldn't get close enough to the house. He did manage to rip up the lawn, though. I like that the back of the truck says "Dangerous work done safe" but the "safe" is obscured by the ladder, so it's just "done."
They attached this claw to the bobcat to stabilize the tree while they sawed off pieces of it. Later, they used it to take off the big chunk. Hank is supervising because that's what he does when work is being done in the yard. He makes sure it is done right.
I kind of love this picture. It's the hole in the addition, after they removed the tree. It reminds me of that scene in Disney's "Sword in the Stone" when Arthur first touches the sword and the heavens open up and the chorus sings? Except... this is bad. It's sort of like, instead of a destiny being fulfilled, I can see God revealing a life of struggle ahead. Something will always go wrong. And yet, I'm not all that concerned. I mean, either I laugh at it, or I go nuts, literally, and get committed. Or move back in with my parents. Finding the beauty and humor in this sort of thing is the only way I'll get through it. Maybe that's overly dramatic?
The roofer took some pictures with my camera when he went up to patch the roof. I like this shot, because you can see my couch through the roof. You aren't supposed to see in through a roof.
First picture: from the back door, looking towards the garage. What? You can't see anything? Just leaves? Yes, that's because everything in sight was overwhelmed by leaves and various other tree-parts that used to reside about fifty feet higher.
See? I wasn't exaggerating. Here's where the tree broke through the roof of the addition and one of the many, lovely, new water-spots we have popping up in all sorts of unexpected places.
Our porch in the lovely light of morning, filled with tree.
This is the view from behind the house. Note the now-squished looking corner of the top of the house. That's above my office. The tree must have hit there first, poking a few holes in the roof above the attic, which resulted in some water in my office. The little couch was slightly damp, but not too bad, so I'm keeping it. Thankfully, I had only recently moved my wedding dress to the other closet, which stayed totally dry. Also dry: the vintage guitar I inherited from my dad.
This is the view from my office window. Luckily, it is double-paned (pained?) glass, and only the outside pane was broken. So, it looks neat, but it is still water-proof. Unlike the roof.
This is the tree service cherry-picker attempting to get up the front lawn. Because the ground was so wet and slick, and the front lawn has a slight up-slope, he couldn't get close enough to the house. He did manage to rip up the lawn, though. I like that the back of the truck says "Dangerous work done safe" but the "safe" is obscured by the ladder, so it's just "done."
They attached this claw to the bobcat to stabilize the tree while they sawed off pieces of it. Later, they used it to take off the big chunk. Hank is supervising because that's what he does when work is being done in the yard. He makes sure it is done right.
I kind of love this picture. It's the hole in the addition, after they removed the tree. It reminds me of that scene in Disney's "Sword in the Stone" when Arthur first touches the sword and the heavens open up and the chorus sings? Except... this is bad. It's sort of like, instead of a destiny being fulfilled, I can see God revealing a life of struggle ahead. Something will always go wrong. And yet, I'm not all that concerned. I mean, either I laugh at it, or I go nuts, literally, and get committed. Or move back in with my parents. Finding the beauty and humor in this sort of thing is the only way I'll get through it. Maybe that's overly dramatic?
The roofer took some pictures with my camera when he went up to patch the roof. I like this shot, because you can see my couch through the roof. You aren't supposed to see in through a roof.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
96% Feminist
| You Are 96% Feminist |
 You are a total feminist. This doesn't mean you're a man hater (in fact, you may be a man). You just think that men and women should be treated equally. It's a simple idea but somehow complicated for the world to put into action. |
Friday, July 13, 2007
Flight of the Conchords Ep 4 If You're Into It
This is my new favorite song. You need to watch this show. The more you listen, the funnier it gets. I love how their instruments keep showing up and then disappearing again. Enjoy!
Thursday, April 05, 2007
My Love for Alanis Morissette Knows no Bounds
This video has been all over the place lately, but I couldn't watch it at work because I have no sound on my computer. I thought I'd share it with you, my lovely readers.
I loved this. She gets all the stutters and whatnots, but slowed down and super-dramatic, all of the truly deep meaning of Fergie's song really comes to light. What? You thought "My Humps" was just silly fluff?
Monday, April 02, 2007
Feeling a Little Old
One of the women I work with is about 23ish. I remember 23 and it doesn't seem all that long ago. Today at lunch, however, I realized that 23 was a lifetime ago.
She recounted her weekend, which involved going out, drinking, hooking up with a guy she's liked for a while. Then she asked how my weekend was.
In my defense, I wasn't really up for much but... my answer was lame.
Friday, I was still a little sick, so we didn't do anything. Saturday we ran errands - Dr's office, purchased tile for the bathroom, went to Macy's to see if there was more stuff to register for, went to Sears to look at lawn mowers, and then to IKEA to look at shelves. It was straight out of Old School, when Will Ferrel's talking to the college kid about how they're going to go to Home Depot, and that's the highlight of his weekend. Of course, we also went to our friend's party on Saturday and stayed out until 2:30 am. But, that's like, notable for us because we never stay out that late anymore. She does it every weekend.
Oh, and Sunday? Sunday I slept until noon because I can't go out that late (we were in Homewood, a whole other story, so even though we left the bar at 2:30, we didn't get home until closer to 3:30). The exciting thing about Sunday was that we ordered Wrestlemania 23. Because we're cool.
So cool.
She recounted her weekend, which involved going out, drinking, hooking up with a guy she's liked for a while. Then she asked how my weekend was.
In my defense, I wasn't really up for much but... my answer was lame.
Friday, I was still a little sick, so we didn't do anything. Saturday we ran errands - Dr's office, purchased tile for the bathroom, went to Macy's to see if there was more stuff to register for, went to Sears to look at lawn mowers, and then to IKEA to look at shelves. It was straight out of Old School, when Will Ferrel's talking to the college kid about how they're going to go to Home Depot, and that's the highlight of his weekend. Of course, we also went to our friend's party on Saturday and stayed out until 2:30 am. But, that's like, notable for us because we never stay out that late anymore. She does it every weekend.
Oh, and Sunday? Sunday I slept until noon because I can't go out that late (we were in Homewood, a whole other story, so even though we left the bar at 2:30, we didn't get home until closer to 3:30). The exciting thing about Sunday was that we ordered Wrestlemania 23. Because we're cool.
So cool.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Old Post, New Post
This is a post I started a long time ago... two months or so, about when I went to see Tom Petty. MSN has a series going called "What I Learned" by famous people. Tom Petty did one, which I thought was pretty cool. So, I thought I'd share a link and revisit my impression of his concert. And so, the old post:
This was a good weekend. The last two, actually, have been wonderful.
I don't work on Fridays. I am in the progress of earning my master's degree in English Lit and I stay home from work on Fridays to do school work. As I've only had one class this quarter, my work load was relatively light. So, I cleaned a little, read a little, and hung out with Hank. Nice day. I should do more work than I do when I stay home. Normally, it isn't a problem, but now I have a bowling league on Monday nights so, if my work isn't done by Sunday night, I'm sort of screwed. Such is the case now. I skipped class last week because Hank got hurt (but that's a whole other story) and I didn't check our assignment until Sunday. Whoops. I have to find a text ... well, it won't make any sense here, but suffice to say it's going to be tough to do.
Anyway.
Last Friday night Mr, another couple, and I headed over to Northerly Island to see Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. This is the second time I've seen Tom Petty, and man can that guy rock. Apparently, he is retiring after this tour, so in theory this is the last time Petty will play Chicago. He's getting older, and seemed a little tired near the end, but I have a hard time believing he'll really retire. He seems to love it so much. And why wouldn't he? The Heartbreakers kick ass and his music just flat out rocks. I think Tom could sing the ABCs and I would be entertained. He seems like such an interesting character.
Mr has agreed to invite him to our wedding. hee.
This was a good weekend. The last two, actually, have been wonderful.
I don't work on Fridays. I am in the progress of earning my master's degree in English Lit and I stay home from work on Fridays to do school work. As I've only had one class this quarter, my work load was relatively light. So, I cleaned a little, read a little, and hung out with Hank. Nice day. I should do more work than I do when I stay home. Normally, it isn't a problem, but now I have a bowling league on Monday nights so, if my work isn't done by Sunday night, I'm sort of screwed. Such is the case now. I skipped class last week because Hank got hurt (but that's a whole other story) and I didn't check our assignment until Sunday. Whoops. I have to find a text ... well, it won't make any sense here, but suffice to say it's going to be tough to do.
Anyway.
Last Friday night Mr, another couple, and I headed over to Northerly Island to see Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. This is the second time I've seen Tom Petty, and man can that guy rock. Apparently, he is retiring after this tour, so in theory this is the last time Petty will play Chicago. He's getting older, and seemed a little tired near the end, but I have a hard time believing he'll really retire. He seems to love it so much. And why wouldn't he? The Heartbreakers kick ass and his music just flat out rocks. I think Tom could sing the ABCs and I would be entertained. He seems like such an interesting character.
Mr has agreed to invite him to our wedding. hee.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
The Digital Age and Hank
I have officially entered the digital age. My wonderful boyfriend bought me a digital camera for Christmas. This is a big deal for many reasons. A). I have never really used a digital camera. 2). Though I love taking pictures, I have a hard time keeping track of my camera. I lost it (my old Olympus, not the new one), found it again, lost it again and now I have the case, but no idea where the camera is. How is that even possible? D). I'm a klutz and I have a tendency to break anything that I really like and really don't want to break. Then I cry and beat myself up. It isn't pretty.
But I am determined to break these bad habits with my New Fancy Digital Camera. Mostly though, I've just taken pictures of my dog, Hank. I'm going to try and post some. We'll see what happens. Hank is a wonderful mutt. I found him at the Anti-Cruelty Society here in Chicago. My office is nearby and I used to wander over sometimes on my lunch break and look at the doggies. Then, one day, there was Hank. He was so cute and little - about 4 months old - that I had to have him. So, I called Boyfriend and told him to meet me there after work. Then, I raced over as soon as the end of the day came and I took Hank out to play so that no one else could take him home. Puppies don't last long at shelters. Every one wants a puppy. It's the poor dogs over a year old that sit there forever.
But I digress. Boyfriend finally shows up, and we play with Hank (who, at this point was not Hank - they were calling him "Flip" - but I had decided after lunch that his name was Hank. It is never a good idea to name a dog before you adopt him. It just makes it harder if you decide you can't have him). We played too long to adopt him that day, so we went home. We discuss the merits of dogs in apartments. How much exercise he'll need, what will happen to him during the day. What breed he might be. Boyfriend thought he might be an English Pointer - which need a ton of exercise and can become "destructive" if they don't get enough exercise. We decide Hank would not be happy here and we can't have him. But, now the dog-fever is in and we want one. We decide to go to some adoption events that weekend. The dogs we see suck. They're aggressive or abused or too big. Generally, they are not Hank. "Maybe we should check the Anti-Cruelty Society" I say. "Maybe they have some new dogs in. I'm sure Hank is gone." Hank is not gone. He is there. He wants to say hello. We play with him. We talk to the volunteers who tell us that any home - no matter how small - is better than a shelter. We adopt Hank. Yay! My first Dog! Now Hank is almost a year old. He is wonderful. At the moment, he is sleeping next to me, as he does most days when I am home and supposed to be writing a paper or doing research.
He isn't perfect though - he does need a lot of exercise. At the moment, I'm trying to find a good daycare place - he had a good place, but it isn't really convenient anymore. He needs to run around with other doggies and get tired. Unfortunately, most places charge an arm and a leg to let your dog play with other city dogs and I don't have an arm and a leg to spare. I need mine.
But I am determined to break these bad habits with my New Fancy Digital Camera. Mostly though, I've just taken pictures of my dog, Hank. I'm going to try and post some. We'll see what happens. Hank is a wonderful mutt. I found him at the Anti-Cruelty Society here in Chicago. My office is nearby and I used to wander over sometimes on my lunch break and look at the doggies. Then, one day, there was Hank. He was so cute and little - about 4 months old - that I had to have him. So, I called Boyfriend and told him to meet me there after work. Then, I raced over as soon as the end of the day came and I took Hank out to play so that no one else could take him home. Puppies don't last long at shelters. Every one wants a puppy. It's the poor dogs over a year old that sit there forever.
But I digress. Boyfriend finally shows up, and we play with Hank (who, at this point was not Hank - they were calling him "Flip" - but I had decided after lunch that his name was Hank. It is never a good idea to name a dog before you adopt him. It just makes it harder if you decide you can't have him). We played too long to adopt him that day, so we went home. We discuss the merits of dogs in apartments. How much exercise he'll need, what will happen to him during the day. What breed he might be. Boyfriend thought he might be an English Pointer - which need a ton of exercise and can become "destructive" if they don't get enough exercise. We decide Hank would not be happy here and we can't have him. But, now the dog-fever is in and we want one. We decide to go to some adoption events that weekend. The dogs we see suck. They're aggressive or abused or too big. Generally, they are not Hank. "Maybe we should check the Anti-Cruelty Society" I say. "Maybe they have some new dogs in. I'm sure Hank is gone." Hank is not gone. He is there. He wants to say hello. We play with him. We talk to the volunteers who tell us that any home - no matter how small - is better than a shelter. We adopt Hank. Yay! My first Dog! Now Hank is almost a year old. He is wonderful. At the moment, he is sleeping next to me, as he does most days when I am home and supposed to be writing a paper or doing research.
He isn't perfect though - he does need a lot of exercise. At the moment, I'm trying to find a good daycare place - he had a good place, but it isn't really convenient anymore. He needs to run around with other doggies and get tired. Unfortunately, most places charge an arm and a leg to let your dog play with other city dogs and I don't have an arm and a leg to spare. I need mine.
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