i [heart] cathi of in the pink

referencing my self-depricating remarks about my appearance on friday,

At lundi, octobre 31, 2005 2:49:37 PM, Cathi said...
What are you talking about? I think you look hot!

(thanks cathi, i'll drop the check off when i come over to detail your cars)

3 unrelated statements

  1. i am clearly insane. i said in the previous post that it was cloudy and rainy. it's neither. it's sunny and goregeous and cool.
  2. i love this sweater. i want a BF to make it for (but one i've been dating for like 3 years so as to not invoke the curse) or make it a v-neck for me.
  3. sushi and diet coke makes the sad and weary soul so happy.
  4. i said i was insane, okay? that includes not knowing how to count.

to make up for my lack of interestingness, PICTURES!

so, instead of just linking you to the halloween set, here's some more info about halloween party night on friday.

it started with dinner at chili's.

yaymee and mary kate were there:

yaymee and mary kate

as were pei and heatherfeather (i go about 50/50 with the percentage of the time i wear makeup):
pei and heatherhead

we sat next to a spooky picture with a horrifyingly frightening fake person and a clown in it:
the scary picture at chili's

then we went to target (where no pictures were taken, but i sent some of the more interesting text messages i've ever sent) and yaymee bought a fake dog and i bought sudafed.

later in the night yaymee leapt to her feet and said, "i have to cut the eyebrows off the dog." which was startling to hear if you didn't know what on earth she was talking about. it's funnier if i don't tell you now.

here's the hair and makeup i did for pei "the morning-after geisha":
morning-after geisha

and here's me sitting at my ladylike best while doing it (mom'd be so proud):
halloween 002
not on the topic of halloween, here's the mindlessly easy knitting project that i can't motvate myself to work on - a pinwheel blankie in some sort of bernat baby yarn in lemon custard on #7 addi turbos (i live in a basement so natural lighting isn't so much of an option. and it's cloudy, cold and rainy today):
pinwheel blankie
FIN

i have wanted to knit

and even done some knitting...

but it's not goting well.

as neither is sleeping, eating, reading, doing homework, writing papers, and staying on top of my monumentally atrocious fall allergies...

dr. freud, call extension 4432, STAT

i am allergic to bananas and nuts.






(fyi, my computer is inexplicably working today. i'm not going to say any more about it in case it notices and remembers it stopped working. just smile and walk slowly away.)

meme. this means i'm procrastinating again.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4, what does it say?
(this is the whole sentence) "Constant laughed to himself thinking how delighted Mrs. Rumfoord would be were the vulgar, parvenu Mr. Constant of Hollywood to spend his entire visit treed on the fountain by a thoroughbred dog." Vonnegut, Sirens of Titan

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?
not a darn thing

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
I Love the 80's 3D, 1984

4. WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what time it is:
6:34 pm

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
booyah! 6:34 pm

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
Natalie Merchant's "My Skin," dog tonails on ceramic tile

7. When did you last step outside? what were you doing?
I walked from my car to the house about an hour ago coming back from Capuvino where i was "Studying"

8. Before you came to this website, what did you look at?
Fritzie's blog, from whence i stole this meme.

9. What are you wearing?
filthy! royal blue zipper hoodie, yoga tank, jeans, belt, and true to form, no socks even though i'm FREEZING

10. Did you dream last night?
Yes.

11. When did you last laugh?
I think today, on the phone... i usually laugh when talking to that person on the phone - i have no specific memory of laughter, but it was either today or last night...

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
posters from my circus, clock

13. Seen anything weird lately?
yo' mama.

14. What do you think of this quiz?
not as much fun as a giraffe of wine

15. What was the last film you saw?
haven't the foggiest... i have gone to the movies this quarter, but i don't remember what. my memory has been pretty bad for anything preceding the past 16 days or so.

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?
all of my debt back, a new car, and some expensive cheese.

17. Tell me something about you that I don't know?
i appear really outgoing but have some moderately crippling social phobias.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
make the world safe. (oh yeah! the last movie i saw was corpse bride!)

19. Do you like to dance?
oh, yes...

20a. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
i'm not telling you that.

20b. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
i'm not telling you that, either.

they're in

halloween pictures from friday night...

true to form, i don't look anywhere as good in the pictures as i did in my head...

click my dirty girl boots for more

money for nothing, chicks for free

[i have no relevant posting, i just wanted to use this title. please feel free to share your relevant story, but be forewarned that i will delete anything too dirty.]

suckage

i hate that i have no computer. i check my email compulsively. i have to write 5 papers in the next two weeks, take an online final, as well as to an online job application exam in the next 2 weeks.

the online application actually has to be by tuesday. and i have to register for classes on monday.

cherzie, i may take you up on the apple situation.... i'll shoot you an email. oh, wait...

growl.

in happier news, i got my new phone and it's fun but if my text messages are garbled, it's because the space key and delete keys are in different places. however, my phone is the best way to find me these days.

and no, i'm not posting my phone number.

xo!

it's all about balance

my computer died. dead. kaput. it turns on and goes to a horrifying blue screen telling me that the system has suffered a fatal error with some cryptic numbers following the statement. i have 4 papers and an online final to take in the next 3 weeks.

however in better news, today yaymee and i were sitting on a hill munching on middle eastern sandwiches, and my friend spence rode by on a segway. we had just been talking about who would use a segway, and how it's typically better to win one than to consciously plunk $5k for one. however, he did neither - he rented it so as to complete his costume as job for the halloween party tonight.

(i'm going to be a generic woman of relaxed morals since i don't have a costume)

a word to comment spammers

well two:

YOU

SUCK

how much boring would it be to have to do these word verifications to leave a comment spam so long you're asleep by the first carriage return?

like newton's apple dropping

i've been talking to semaphoria on instant messenger. of course, i'm talking about in off-hours, she doesn't IM on company time.

and i had a sudden, somewhat earth-shattering realization.

anyhow, we've recently passed our 16 year anniversary mark as friends. yay!

love you, honeybunny!

i did not know that.

my motorola v300 (pictured here next to an amazing lunch) will terminate a phone call at the 4 hour mark.

sometimes it will also just reset itself when you open it and take 2 minutes to restart.

these are why i am in a few days getting a new phone (for free with mail in rebate, of course), with 1 year extension of my existing contract.

so

Happy Birthday Particleman!!

I'm so excited for your birthday I'm using capital letters and everything!

26 - what a good year... double a prime number...

I may expedite your bottle of Crown for the occasion!

food i suspect is laced with crack (or the strangest, yet perfect meal)

hot n spicy cheezits
freeman's macaroni and cheese
sugar sweet sunshine's lemon cupcakes
oranges
fuji apples
soy peppermint hot chocolate
semaphoria's butternut squash and apple soup
baby spinach salad with dried cranberries and goat cheese
chili's southwestern eggrolls
special k with red berries and soy dream original soy milk
kaladi brothers' peruvian coffee
ice water

what i can't stop listenining to...

i am running a little late, so you can do your own googling for more information:

  • "engine" by neutral milk hotel
  • "older chests" by damien rice
  • the entirety of boys, flowers, miles by antje duvekot
  • "jewel box" by jeff buckley
  • appalachian journey by edgar meyer, yo-yo ma, and... (someone) o'connor. i really should know the last guy's name.
  • "nothing better" by the postal service
  • "waltz #2" by elliott smith
  • "i love, i love (traveling ii)" by dar williams
  • "where you'll find me now" by neutral milk hotel
  • "song against sex" by neutral milk hotel

man, what a letdown. get your money back

i told no fewer than 6 people that i'd have a knitted FO posted here today.

i don't.

it's the cabled hat - knitted flat, seamed up the sides. modeled after amy's (mhcknitters - does she have a blog?) son's hat that was the cutest, funniest thing i've ever seen.

however, i vastly undershot the length that it'd need to be to fit over my monster-sized head. as well as overshot how many stitches across it should be. (can we say "lazy gauge swatcher"?) i have it seamed up one side, and i'm going to do what any good knitter in my circumstance would do: the lazy thing. i'm going to pick up stitches from the band and see if i can't knit a few more inches in the round to make it deep enough and snug enough.

or i'll have to redo the whole sucker.

hey, you, stop lurking!

call to action.


time to delurk. i have all sorts of people from really interesting cities who read this little blogadillo quite regularly, and i am curious as to who you are!

don't make me post your IP address... ;-)

why the internet is so bizarre

i have met people and made friends with people i've never laid eyes on. sometimes through the friend of a friend of a friend, sometimes by pure chance...

there are way more weird fascinating and quirky and fun people crawling this lonely planet than i've ever imagined...

i think blogger is insane

sometimes the word verification is 5 letters long.

sometimes you have to type the text of war and peace.

Opium

by antje duvekot

You are a rollercoaster
You make the ladies weak
You are a rocketship
Come from another galaxy
Yeah, you are pure desire
Like a candy bar at a fat camp
If I cannot have you now
I will wither like a weed

You are a glass of fine wine
With a four star dish
You are a little detour
Make me shake like a jellyfish
You could do my laundry
Won't you make me...come on
You are like opium

You look like a centaur
Riding on that bike
Rock star, with your guitar
Play me the soundtrack to my life
And tell me a story, I don't care if it is true
I only wanna see your lips move

If I were a country
I'd let you explore me
You could draw a map
Then show me all my peaks
If I were a car I would let you repair me
And jump start my battery
You have the sweetest eyes I've ever seen
I would offer you a permanent position in my dreams
And it's not that I'm easily swept off my feet
But you are like ecstacy

You are a roller coaster
You make the ladies weak
You are a rocketship
Come from another galaxy
You are a hurricane
Walking down that lane
Oh, you make a woman blush, boy
When you look at her that way
Cause you are like opium
Yeah, you are like opium

it's just uncanny, i say...

this is monty burns of the simpsons

this is the dean of my school

you were a-wandering out on the hills of iowa and you were not thinking of me

i just got back from the dar williams show up in boulder not so long ago. i'm not doing links today because, frankly, i've gotten fewer than 5 hours of sleep the past two nights and can't be bothered at this juncture. but y'all are resourceful and know how to google.

ah... dar. background time... the very first dar song i ever heard was "iowa (traveling iii)" from mortal city. (traveling i and ii are on the honesty room) that's the song captioned in the title. i heard it at the neutral ground coffee co-op in new orleans where my friend colleen was playing a gig in 1997. she never did covers except for that song, and tracy chapman's "the promise." anyhow, i heard it and i was hooked. and if you've ever asked me the question, "What's your favorite _________?" you know i'll give you a dirty look because i have a difficult time picking favorites of anything... but dar williams is one of my hands-down favorite musicians.

i've struggled my whole life with my aching desire to be a songwriter and the sad reality that i'm not a good one by a long shot... however, every time i've had the overwhelming desire to do so, it's after listening to a new dar williams album. the green world which was released in 2000 was one of those albums full of those gems, where i couldn't even listen to a whole song without sketching out an idea for a song - not that sounded like what i was listening to but that helped me open up an idea for lyrics and melody. granted, the songs rarely stuck around, but it happened nonetheless. and i had never seen her until 2000 when i took my friend david to see her in atlanta (i was living in athens, he was living in south carolina). then i took my roommate to see her in athens in march 2001. in may of that year i moved to maine. in july of that year she played the next town over, so i saw her then, too. but since those 3 times i haven't seen her and oh, was last night wonderful.

i went up to boulder by myself - i'm still not really in the mood to see people (but just aching to talk on the phone/online either about happy stuff or sad stuff) and got there about halfway through the opening act, girlyman who were really good... folk trio who wander into bluegrass now and then. and then do fun things like in the middle of a bluegrassy song about how the singer thought every person was actually gay and was trying to convert straight women to her side, they broke into a version of "genie in a bottle." which was just amusing. they closed with the gay male version of "son of a preacher man." they were really good.

and dar came on at 9 and opened, with (of all things) a cover of "comfortably numb" which was oddly appropriate and perfect for me at the moment. on a tangent, she got married and had a kid since last i've seen her. her 2 most recent albums seem to have her husband's influences on them. it's not good or bad, it just is. anyhow, "comfortably numb" (not really a pink floyd fan, i like some stuff, but by and large i never veer into that genre of music) was well done and of the precise emotional timbre of my own personal self.

my hips were aching by the end of the night because i'm a falling apart old lady, and i was leaning on the bar which put weird pressure on them. it's neither here nor there. i'm just inviting you to share in my experience fully. onward.

she did another one of her new songs which was SO appropriate to last night in particular and my life in general that i can't even begin to explain, "i'll miss you till i meet you." there were old songs and new songs, and the song that caught me off guard.

"after all." it's the song that from the first time i heard it i thought was the perfect echo of my own experiences... going from deep depression to the other side, sometimes getting stuck in the sadness other times. and she talked about it in a way that i had never thought of before. she was the type of person who when she was depressed, she was able to link it to the fact that she is one of those people who gives to the world to make it a better place. (you with me on the corrollary, so far?) and they give and give and give until they feel empty, because they've forgotten that they are a part of the world they're trying to make safer better and have spent so much time giving to others that they have spent zero time giving to themselves. and don't spend time on their "inner neighborhood" as it were and give to the rest of the world until they're empty on the inside. (if you're not with me on what this has to do with me, i don't know what to tell you)

i lied - here's a link to the lyrics. and anyhow, my daddyhead emigrated here from the philippines, my mom grew up in the typical middle-america post-war family. they fell madly in love and eloped a few months after meeting... one of the great romances you hear about... they had two daughters and were married for nearly 37 years. anyhow, the point is, i completely fell apart in the boulder theater leaning on the bar during this song. but then i got better.

she's started the echoes initiative (go to her official website for more info. google, remember?) and talked about beads for life which supports women in uganda - yay for small enterprise development! because it's a good cause, i'll tell you the bead for life site is here.

all in all, dar's performance was about 2 hours. her last song of the primary set was the always good-time-inducing "as cool as i am" which is good considering the bad rap women get for being nasty to each other. i love other women! they don't always love me, but that's another post for another day. anyhow, then was the curtain call (which is SO weird to me. they go away, you know they'll come back again, but you have to keep clapping anyway)

she did "christians and the pagans" which hasn't been my favorite song but is one of her most popular ones, and is definitely amusing. and finally, she ended with "iowa" here are some of the genius lines in that song:

"but way back where I come from,
we never mean to bother,
we don't like to make our passions other peoples concern,
and we walk in the world of safe people,
and at night we walk into our houses and burn. "

"how i long to fall just a little bit
to dance out of the lines and stray from the light
but i fear that to fall in love with you
is to fall from a great and gruesome height"

"so for you i came this far across the tracks
ten miles above the limit and with no seatbelt and i'd do it again.
for tonight i went running through the screen doors of discretion
for i woke up from a nightmare that i could not stand to see.
you were a-wandering out on the hills of iowa,
and you were not thinking of me..."

then the show ended, i collected myself and wandered around thepearl street mall for a little while. it was chilly. it was surprisingly dead for a saturday night, too. then i drove home and couldn't sleep again. i didn't fall asleep until almost 6 am and have been up since 930. now my dilemma is do i power through and stay awake until 9 pm or take a nap right now?

i just don't know.... but i had such a good night last night... it was so good...

update: so i TOTALLY lied and didn't link to the "after all" lyrics, and instead linked to MooCow in drag... sorry moo... i've fixed it now. at least that was totally unintentional an therefore totally funny when i checked to see what i linked to... at least someone professed their love for you in the comments...

i am such a geek but a great friend

You Passed the US Citizenship Test
Congratulations - you got 10 out of 10 correct!


test via fritzie!

from the same place

What Your Sleeping Position Says

You are calm and rational.
You are also giving and kind - a great friend.
You are easy going and trusting.
However, you are too sensible to fall for mind games.

what can you do?

i made it home. it's oh-dark thirty for real.

i had no idea JUST how terrified i am of flying until i took a xanax before flying and didn't feel paralyzing, gripping, nauseating fear. so, i'm guessing constantly thinking you're going to crash and die isn't a typical OR a good thing, and i swear by the front paws of my dog that i shall never again fly unmedicated.

thanks friend for the phone call that kept my mind off of the horrors of the vegas airport at 10 pm on a friday night, and other friend, for the phone call that kept my mind occupied in california when i was waiting for the xanax to kick in.

i slept so soundly on my last leg of my trip that i have no idea how to go to sleep right now. lie down and try, i suppose.

laughter


ohlaugh



this is a good picture of my little dad laughing. he had extraordinarily aerodynamic hair. his first name is oscar, we called him oh! and yo! and oh! yo! and yo! yo!

exclamation points required.

i just sent a friend a text message saying i wish i were in boston walking down newbury street. i love boston in the autumn. it's intermittently sunny and cloudy, the air is crisp and biting and the entire atmosphere is pervasively, but not paralyzingly, sad.

that is exactly how i feel today.

and....wrap

i'm leaving for denver tonight around 9 pm. i have a layover in vegas from 10 until about 11:50 pm (so i'll probably be phoning and texting around then. be awake) i get in at 2:38 am to denver. then i go home fall into bed and sleep until the dog says stop.

dar williams concert in boulder saturday.

nothing on sunday.

and far more work than is necessary starting monday.

this week has sucked.

a big thank you...

...to everyone who sent cards and flowers and mass intentions and novenas (can you tell the family's catholic?) whether you're in california or colorado or new york or oregon or nevada or arizona or south africa.

i [heart] you all so much

i am such a dork.

i can't sleep so i'm on the internet and this almost made me have an accident of the depend adult undergarment variety.

i am so tired though

fashion tip

gentlemen, evidently we can never say this enough.

FLAT FRONT PANTS, please.

pleated pants don't make anyone look sharp.

i needed something new at the top of my page

time has slowed down and it feels like 3 weeks have gone by since my previous post, and not 26 hours.

i'm sleepy, i have amazing friends and readers (thanks for the kind words, everyone), and an insatiable craving for coffee.

and by the way, i've been FREEZING since i've been in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. it's been rainy and chilly and damp. not cold mind you, but i didn't bring my cold weather clothes with me because it's SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. it doesn't stop being 90+ degrees until mid-november here.

so fritz coleman, what's up with that?

i love you daddy



Pie Jesu
Qui tollis peccata mundi
Dona eis requiem, dona eis requiem

july 6 1946 - october 16 2005

may you rest with the angels...

update

i made it to california.

it's very bad and getting worse - my little daddy is still alive but it is unlikely to be for long. he's had a massive hemorrhage in his brain and is unable to survive. 100% of his respiration is being done on a ventilator.

he's not been conscious at all since he called 911 on friday.

please please, keep happythoughts/prayers/warmfuzzies going.

oi

my dad's in the hospital.

they don't know what's wrong yet. in true healthcare fashion it's either something really easy or something really serious.

while probability states it's likely really easy, i just can't going back to the really serious option.

it took a while for my mom to find out which hospital he's in, but she's on her way there unless they transfer him before she gets there. (he called 911 from the side of the freeway)

prayers, warm fuzzies, happy thoughts appreciated.

UPDATE: it looks very very bad. flying home tomorrow.

mes gants

i finished the second glove. now i REALLY don't think i'm into doing socks - once you finish the first of the set, you have to start a BRANDNEW matching item... annoying.

anyhow, since i dunno how to take a picture of both of my hands at the same time while holding a camera in at least one of my hands, i put the gloves on the dog.

no, not like THAT, but on his back.

cigar and dog

it turns out he was a little afraid of the gloves at first and putting them on him made him run away. who knew? but he got used to it, and even a little bored:

cigar and yawning dog

anyhow, last night i decided to take pictures to illustrate why i will need a king-sized bed if i ever get married:

me and a dog two faces

and i love this picture of the dogcreature:

back of his head

her brain resembled soylent green

i was reading at larissa's place, and came across 2 memes. since i can't be bothered to do a proper post, i'm going to meme.

google "Yourname needs" and list 10.

  1. heather needs a rest
  2. heather needs two therapists
  3. heather needs a childhood, by bill o'reilly
  4. heather needs to access information ubiquitously to provide answers to client questions
  5. heather needs a family who will commit to her one hundred percent.
  6. heather needs an environment thatallows her to follow her own instincts and ambitions
  7. heather needs to reserve a date later in the year when the weather is nicer
  8. heather needs a cape to tire her bull and prepare it for the kill
  9. heather needs to start wearing a brassiere
  10. heather needs a variety of intellectual pursuits.

most of these are true, or would be true with a minor verb tweak here and there.

second meme (been going around for a while, haven't gotten around to it):

snake the 5th sentence of your 23rd post in your archives.

"There was a really nice sunken jaccuzi tub, a european shower, a dressing area (it was about as big as my apartment is now), with 2 doors leading off of it. "

i'm sleepy

so it's actually 9:26 pm. but i'm changing the time stamp to midnight to say:

happy birthday yaymee!
happy birthday cherzie!


i wish you loverly, beautiful days filled with the love and joy you both deserve.


let the freak flag waving begin. (i'll be there with cameras and monkeys)


XOXO!

yes. yes he did


cigar glove
Originally uploaded by swandive00.

this photo caused semaphoria to ask, "did ernie eat your thumb?"

following fritzie's and yaymee's leads

Your Personality Profile
You are nurturing, kind, and lucky.Like mother nature, you want to help everyone.You are good at keeping secrets and tend to be secretive.
A seeker of harmony, you are a natural peacemaker.You are good natured and people enjoy your company.You put people at ease and make them feel at home with you.


unsurprisingly, it's all true. especially people enjoying my company. to prove this, evaluate the loveliness of the time you're having on my blog right now. i'll fall over dead if your enjoyment level is lower than 352.

behold, it is nirvana

i had the best cup of coffe i may have had EVER last week.

at dino's soda bar.

which has a saddish little web page.

i just want to know

a) what brand of coffee they serve
b) who is my spouse to be that makes it so strong that your teeth scream and your hair curls?

yes, please.

lexie barnes : lady b

you know you love me at least $160 (plus S&H)

how did that happen?

so, we've gone from having touches of fall to full-blown winter.

tonight it should snow 2-4 inches.

tomorrow, 4-7.

tomorrow night, 1-3.

in which the author demonstrates her brilliance

taking a two-month trip leads to some intersting questions. how much to pack? what range of seasons should be encompassed in the packing?

then, there are the permanent address issues. i decided to get my brain together and finally buy big rubbermaid bins to keep my out of season clothes in. i cleaned out my closet, i put away all of my non-summer clothes, and donated a ton of clothes that i wasn't going to wear anymore. i left for new york in mid-july and returned mid-september.

do you see the flaw in my thinking yet?

here it is: i have to go through all the rubbermaid bins again ASAP because i put away all of my fall and winter clothes. they were put out of my way when i wasn't here to appreciate it, and now that i need them, i just have to do it again.

and people, the twitch in my eye hasn't subsided yet. i don't have time to rearrange my clothing storage situation.

stupid low-ceilinged-apartment without enough closet space...

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern.
A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock.
A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything.
No wonder you and London will get along so well.
What City Do You Belong in? Take This Quiz :-)

mariah


mariah
Originally uploaded by swandive00.

for better or worse, here she is. mariah.

ma-ri-ah. light of my life, fire of my loins.

or not.

whatever, i'm a little yarn drunk.

it makes me look dumpy. my gauge was WAY off. i took in about 5 inches off of either side seam post-knitting and 4 inchess off the sleeves. but it's warm and i usually don't give a crap about what i wear to school because, seriously? who am i trying to impress?

besides yaymee, but she already loves me for who i am, so the makeup is never, the showering intermittent when around her. just kidding, i'll always wear makeup to hide the fact that i haven't showered.

i started 3 other projects today because i roundly refused to do any school work today. and i feel about as ADD as starting 3 projects in one day makes me sound.

two open letters

dear person or animal that threw half a burrito into the backyard from the alley:

thank you for your kindness and generosity. however, i would greatly appreciate it if in the future, you deposited your half-burritos in the trash can that's next to the fence in the alley. it caused an argument between the pet and i at midnight (when i wasn't wearing my glasses or contacts so i couldn't see what he was trying to eat out of the wild horseradish plant, but i was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to eat stuff out of the plants) and again at 5:10 this fine saturday morning when i had forgotten he was eating stuff out of the plants. ultimately i won, and he did not consume what i identified as a half burrito but did not have anything to touch it with to throw it away properly. we then went back to bed.

in summary, thanks for coming by and thanks for sharing what you have! please, next time use the trash can. have a lovely weekend - enjoy it as it's supposed to snow/rainsnow on monday.

kind regards,
heatherfeather



dear person or animal who removed a half-burrito from the yard sometime between 5:11 and 9:45 this morning:

thank you for your kind service to my pet and myself. it saved me the trouble of being skeeved out by picking up food someone else sent to my yard. while my yard is a wreck because of a year-long battle between my landlords and us folk who live in the house, it's nice to know that people other than i care what the yard looks like. you're a kind and generous carbon-based life form.

have a lovely weekend - enjoy it as it's supposed to snow/rainsnow on monday.

warmly,
heatherfeather

p.s. do you mind shutting the three gates to the yard when you pass through please? because when all three are left open and the dog comes out, no one winds up in a good mood except the dog. also it lets other dogs into the yard, and you may have noticed by now that my dog would love nothing more than to eat other dogs and kids and cats. thanks - you're a doll.

knitting first, random stuff next

i met up with some crazycool knitterladies tonight at fluid coffee. i was going to stay for an hour and knit, but wound up there for FOUR HOURS! it was good times and i got me some knitting done and met some knitters i've been blogstalking for a few months. whew! the creepiness is over. wanna see what happened?

i finished 1 cigar glove in a thinner yarn that makes my fingers look much less stubby. i'm modeling them for you in the kitchen. and the dog will not let me bring knitted goods into the house without checking them for explosives, so he's in all of them.

cigar glove
cigar glove
cigar glove
cigar glove

see what i mean about the dog? he's a silly creature. but he's a cute little coodle.
i love when dogs do this kind of laying their heads down

and in other news, last night i had a student dinner. when i was in undergrad, it was ramen. cheap and filling. now that i'm older, it was still japanese, but way prettier. and it just so happened it made one of my very favorite color combinations, and i had to take a picture of it.
edamammmmmme
yes, i had edamame and diet coke for dinner. except i didn't have any diet coke at the house, so i really had edamame and water for dinner. but i really wanted a diet coke. none to be had. sad? yes. tragic? no.

random quote

SwanDive00: sorry, my uterus clouds my thinking.

why we think before we speak

if i'm walking through the student center at school, and you shout, "SUPPORT BREAST CANCER, EAT A COOKIE!" my first thought is, "no way, jose. i'm totally against breast cancer" and i will forgo the cookie.

he looks so quiet...


he looks so quiet...
Originally uploaded by swandive00.

but he's not.

in fact, today, when i left class early because i felt icky and tried to take a nap, he leapt upon my person (all 78 lbs. of him) and barked with his mouth some 3 inches from my ear for like 2 minutes.

i've learned playing opossum is the best way to get him to knock it off.

more for me than for you

To-Do list for next wednesday (or why my left eye has a twitch that i can see in my line of vision lately)

finish fellowship application (missed deadline in exchange for sanity)
mail application
desch article summary
intelligence briefing
chemical weapons handout
chemical weapons presentation
language proficiency exam
(on hold for a few weeks for sanity)
read read read read read read read read
print resumes
go to career fair
email everyone on the list
fix suit skirt lining
buy tabs for theory notes
yaymee's birthday
yaymee's birthday festivities (she planned it taking me off the hook. xo!)
do a million more job applications
refill allergy medicine
buy kleenex
LAUNDRY
stop sneezing so darn much

what i'm actually doing to prevent a complete and nervous breakdown:




boy, this pattern sho' do make my fingers look stubby... it doesn't help that it's my left hand with no nails because i play guitar (see the guitar?), but seriously... they're not that stubby.

the genetics of yarn

once upon a time, heatherfeather bought some brown sheep lamb's pride worsted in bright brite blue, silver sliver, and old sage. she made a mental note to write a letter to lamb's pride about their yarn naming, but that's a different post.

with the bright brite blue, she made a kittyheaded hat for her friend (or her friend's cat):



1.5 cat heads



with the silver sliver and old sage, she made a clever hat with racing stripes, enabling the wearer to Go Real Fast:



2005.08.26 031

deciding that fall was the season for reproducing yarn, she decided to see what would happen if she left two or more of the skeins alone in a room with romantic music. while well-intentioned, and enabling her to attempt fair isle knitting, it came out freakishly tiny:



fair isle hat

to see the guts of the fair isle, go here.

thinking that there was to be more, she wondered what would happen if she took the standard beanie yarn and left it alone with the kittyhead yarn. the romantic music played, and this time a bottle of wine* was thrown into the mix to create the right ambience.

and lo! i say unto you, the stripey kittyhead hat was born.



cathead2


*don't drink and knit. BAD IDEA. BAD BAD BAD.



however, the new hat also makes the wearer a scaredycat and speak in the third person. and the wearer of the striped beanie reports glowing red eyes when worn.

scaredycat

babies vs. grown ups

so in my sitting on babies job, i've been thinking about the things that are cool about being a baby vs. being a grown up... here's the pros lists

babies:

  1. you can nap while eating
  2. you never have to wait for the bathroom
  3. people will carry you up and down stairs
  4. you get to nap like 14 times a day
  5. you're allowed to put everything in your mouth, even in mixed company
  6. you don't have to pretend to listen to boring people
  7. did i mention all the napping?
  8. other people feed you
  9. you wear funny clothes that people don't point and stare at because they're tiny and thus, cute
  10. you never have to clean dog poop out of the backyard
  11. you get carried basically everywhere
  12. you get to hug teddy bears all day long
  13. you get to watch people go by without the bother of pretending you like them
  14. and once again, the naps

grown ups:

  1. you get to drive (granted, not ALL grown ups do)
  2. you get to drink vodka and sodas
  3. you get to cook
  4. you get to eat more than milk
  5. you get to drive
  6. you get to live by yourself
  7. you get to get pedicures
  8. you can sit up of your own volition without wondering if your trunk muscles have developed enough to let you sit of your own volition and fall on your face if they're not strong enough
  9. you get the jokes on the daily show
  10. you can play the guitar
  11. you can make playlists on iTunes
  12. you can go shoe shopping
  13. you can make crazy bun hair
  14. people don't have to use toothpaste to make a bow stick in your hair and if they try you can kick them in the shins
wow - tough call...

i know this doesn't apply to you...

...but if you MISSED world leader pretend on the today show on friday morning, you may go here to see the video.

update: try this link and scroll down the page. matty's the guitarist in the zipper black sweatshirt who was in charge of making the old ladies clap.

hey internets - I NEED YOUR HELP!

it turns out i don't name my stuff. (except the iPod which is named Bucko Jr.)

last night i was scolded for not having ever named my car.

who wants to name it?

it's white, 2 door, gas guzzlerry, has about 100k miles, and is a 1997. i've never looked at the tailpipe to see if it's a boy or a girl.

ready kids?
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, GO!

how on earth...

...did someone wind up here with the search string: "What is Gloria Estefan's middle name?"

oi, it's crapping mania all over again...

in other news, the dead walk the earth

With this hand I will lift your sorrows.
Your cup will never be empty, for I will be your wine.
With this candle, I will light your way into darkness.
With this ring, I ask you to be mine.

oh, corpse bride... what a lovely piece of tim burtonness, danny elfmanisms, and johnny deppishness...

first of all, i love stop-motion animation, and have respect for those people who have way more patience than i do. i'm not what anyone would call impatient, in fact i am happy as a clam to sit and untangle a knot (literally, not metaphorically) for hours and hours on end. i can teach you how to knit without getting frustrated. but to do a single eye blink in 28 frames? for 77 minutes of cinema? not as much.

then, there was the amazingness of danny elfman's voice... he's been doing scoring nonstop since before and after oingo boingo broke up, and excepting the oompa loompa voices from charlie and the chocolate factory, i haven't heard his voice lately and it's still great!

do i really need to address tim burton? his stuff is so weird and dark and silly and happy and macabre, and he and johnny depp are an amazing team...

i liked how daddy everglot walked. i liked how you could tell it was the same man who played daddy warbucks (honestly, i don't care about erin brokovich). i liked when victor said, "with this candle, i will set your mother on fire." i liked the peter lorre maggot. i liked the color and vibrance of the underworld. i liked the music and rolling eyeballs. i love emily watson and helena bonham carter.

all in all it was a good night. followed by yaymee time! i made her promise not to say that i cried in a bar last night, but i'll admit it.

just so you don't think i'm That Girl, i wasn't drunk, i was just overcome with emotion and the dauntingness of the task at hand.

yaymee: [paraphrased] what do you want to do that will make you most happy?

[cue tears and girly crying crap. yaymee didn't cry though, that was all me.]
me: i just want to make the world safe.

yaymee: i just want to make the world fair. together if we make the world safe and fair that will be a pretty good world.

(in all fairness she wanted to know what job i wanted more than any other, but that's less important than the end result)

so, you've gotten a lazy movie review and things that make me cry in bars. all in all, a productive sunday!

saturdayssssssssssss...

ah... how lovely are thee, saturday?

a day to take a mild break from the ratrace and the studying track...

unless...

you wake up at 6:15 am, take a shower, BLOW YOUR HAIR DRY (never do it), PUT ON MAKEUP (sometimes do it, never on saturday), make breakfast, put on a suit all to make it to a career fair at 8 am. this is a BIG DEAL because the company you're going primarily to see (because it is your FIRST CHOICE for employment) NEVER does career fairs out here, and doesn't do them at your school.

then, when you're checking the website for the convention center for parking information, you decide to see who else will be at this fair, and it's a conference you'll have to pay $200 to attend.

About this blog

erratically updated for food, yarn, or other nonspecified reasons