things i shouldn't be allowed to own

computers
vacuum cleaners
hairdryers

computer? well my computerlessness should attest to that.

vacuum? it's dead. this one lasted over 3 years though, so it was a good one. too bad ernie's still shedding.

hairdryers? my 342958209859018414 tons of hair makes them tired and they die after about a year or so. more if i don't dry my hair ever. which is why i've had this one for like 2 years.

the camisole tube. again.

you may remember that i knitted the camisole tube in about 5 days in cottontots and frogged it because it was WAY too big.

then i reknitted it in size XS to make up for the gauge disparity between the cottontots and the recommended yarn (some viscose blend), but took pictures before i knit the ribbing on the bottom.

here's the picture of the ribbing on the bottom:

when trying it on, i realized that knitting the ribbing around the waistband on size 3 needles (as i did the top ribbing) was folly in 100% cotton (read: entirely nonelastic) when it's supposed to fit around my hips, which are precisely the same in diameter as my bust, and the bust was snug with short rows. in other words, it didn't fit.

so i frogged the ribbing and reknit it on size 6 needles so that it would fit. i didn't get any pictures i really liked of it on (some are unforgiving of my middle chub) but i was sick of trying to get pictures and running late to meet pei lo mein last night so here they are.

(for those of you new to this, click for big)

FO Report:

• pattern: glampyre's tubular camisole
• yarn: bernat's cottontots in lovely lilac, about 2.5 skeins
  
• needles: addi natura 40" in sizes 3 (top ribbing), 6 (bottom ribbing), and 7 (center). and the yellow crochet hook i had hanging around that i've since lost and have no idea what size it is.
  
• started: this version, in the wee sma's of 4/23/06
• finished: 4/24/06, then frogged the ribbing on 4/27/06 and refinished on 4/29/06
• mods: wrong yarn, wrong fiber caused me to use the pattern but go with wacky calculations and different needle uses, double crochet chain for straps.
• notes: Love. It. i wore it last night i'll wear it again. it needs some washing/blocking what with all of the mishandling of the yarn and all, but it will appear frequently this summer, i am sure.
  

breaker niner echo

these pictures are from almost exactly 3 years ago. and i don't have the digitized pictures of our early years, almost 17 (!!!) years ago. there's a picture of her worshipping at my robert smith shrine against my psychedelic pink flower wallpaper when we were 13. and of her surprise 13th birthday party. and of the sassy magazine cover that we discovered had a model who looked like prince if you drew a beard on her. and of our trip to new york before 10th grade before she moved to utah. i have pictures with her mom, her puppy, her brother, her dad. her house was my second home in junior high.

but this is my fred. she is my best fred.

and today, she recovers from the flu, takes pictures with her new camera (macro mode for knitting shots!), snuggles her family, and turns 29.

i've said it before, i'll say it again. she may look small, but she'll kick a hole right through you.

i love you, you silly goat.

oh no...

school products yarn store has gone online... with their yarns by the cone.. their yak yarn... their camel yarn... and all without having to traipse through herald square...

thanks to jess for the reason for my bankruptcy er, the tip.

stupid dog.

dear ernie,

thanks for waking up at 2:45 am and whining, and roaming around and jumping on me and barking in my face until 6 am.

that didn't make me want to make and serve up ernie chow mein at ALL.

love,
hf

broughtening it for years and years

over at chez crystal, there's been a rash of contests... the most recent is the blue steel-off.

i've entered, ernie's entered. about 1324891309851 people have entered except for the original challenge-ee: thomas.

bring it, sucka.

camisole tube is 98% finished

i restarted it on saturday night and finished knitting it last night. i'm in the process of crocheting the straps, it needs blocking, and end-weaving. this time, i did it in size XS because i totally wear that size.

(crickets chirp)

well, shut up, it was good for my ego.
anyhow, here's what happens when you use a too big yarn for the pattern and don't swatch carefully enough.

here's what happens when you downsize to a size XS with the same yarn and needles:

anyhow, i'm posting this from school since this is what i can do. and my friend scott wondered what i was doing posting these sorts of pictures of myself... um, it's KNITTING. it's not anything else.

i also finished knitting jenifer's t twist tee. something happened when i joined the sleeves - my knitting got stoopid and it was like i forgot how to regulate tension. jenifer, i'll take proper pictures once it's been blocked and hopefully i can yank some of the tension back into place. in the meantime:

i like this fun concept, good neckline, yay jenifer!- it's in supafly 10 cotton, but a full FO report later kiddos..

spring in colorado

spring in colorado
Originally uploaded by swandive00.

so much for the lilacs...

saggy sleepface

saggy sleepface
Originally uploaded by swandive00.

it's been rather quiet chez caribou (and for cherz and rob, my caribou hides in the back room. he and ernie are friends, but caribou made me sign a contract saying we'd never show his face) for a few reasons.

1. the timeless "blogger sucks" reason. so it's a sort of miracle if you're reading this post right now.

2. my computer is sooooooo dead. i mostly fixed the windows xp problem (read: installed it 4509241238410 times). but right now it's missing that file we've all seen but can't remember the proper name of (something with win32 in it. if you do remember it, well, that's lovely). but now there's a problem with my C: drive and it's problematic enough that it can't even self-diagnose because there are too many errors on the C: drive to find out what the errors are).

that's basically it. so i'm blogging from flickr since blogger's down.

blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

and, did i mention... it's 40 degrees colder today than it was yesterday and it's snowing... grrrrrrrrrrr...

stupid human tricks in Denver

stupid human tricks in Denver
Originally uploaded by particleman.

proof that i let a stranger try to climb me when particleman was in town.

it's april 21st

...and everybody knows today is earth day, merry christmas, happy birthday to whoever's being born.

maybe dramarama's wasn't making music for a while because earth day's tomorrow.

(and yes, i do this post or a variation thereof every april 21st. it's my blog, get over it.)

"i got wasted, she got mad, called me names and she called her dad.
he got crazy and i did too, wondered what i did to you."

doldrums but fun

it's frogged.

so i've been working on glampyre's camisole tube in lovely lilac cottontots... i didn't get gauge so i went down a size, which according to the magical world of maths was the correct thing to do, but it's still a little monstrously big...


and i don't know that i think it will look any good on me when it's done. as someone without much of a waist on the best of days, i can't help but wonder about something that's purposely baggy around the middle.

so, i could knit the remaining 4 inches of 3x3 ribbing and see (and monkey around with the idea of a strip of elastic around the top), i could frog it and reknit it on smaller needles or a size smaller still, or i could put it in my basket and decline to think about it for a while.

aw, nuts

a new yarn shop opened in denver.

and it's closer to my house than any of the others by like 5 miles...

thanks jeni... there go any plans of having enough money to move... :)

ah... those african dictators...

i have a friend who used to work pretty intensively in a big job in liberia. i was looking for information on his program, and found something funny. so i emailed him and said:

You had crossed my mind as I was preparing a very short presentation on your work in liberia. The either amusing or horrifying part is that the [database redacted], when searching under your name, has you listed, and Charles Taylor as a related person. While he is important in the story of Liberia, I'd hardly call him your relative. :)

to which he replied:

Good research re ex Pres Taylor and I.........busted!.........just don't tell anyone that we shared a jacuzzi together in Nigeria one fine spring day. You may also try to see if any links come up between me and Bob Mugabe as we also go back quite a while.

not everyone with big fancy jobs are boring.

ernie's a fatty

i just found another small lump on ernie's chest. the last time it was a lipoma (a fatty cyst) which i found out $500 later they didn't need to remove since it wasn't in his way.

they're usually benign. but i still don't like him having cysts... it makes me worry.

you get recycled stuff. but i still love you.

stolen from this dude

1. My roommate once: made a chart to teach ernie how to read.

2. Never in my life: met julio iglesias.

3. The one person who can drive me nuts, but then can always manage to make me smile: that one guy.

4. High School was: not long enough ago.

5. When I'm nervous: my hands shake and i have to pee.

6. The last time I cried: saturday

7. If I were to get married right now my bridesmaids/groomsmen would be: my sister and semaphoria

9. My hair: gets dyed when i'm bored.

10. When I was 5: i was much shorter than i am now.

11. Last Christmas: i gave you my heart but the very next day you gave it away. when wham!'s not talking for me, i spent it with my mom and sister. it was quiet and sad.

12. When I turn my head left, I see: a sorta hot guy using his computer.

13. I should be: made out of elastic.

14. When I look down I see: my lap.

15. The craziest recent event was: starting a new babysitting job for a baby with the same name as the baby i used to sit on. i miss A. but i call the new baby A-lite.

16. If I were a character on Friends I'd be: i hope none of them.

17. By this time next year: i'd better be able to pay my rent every month without breaking out into a sweat.

18. Current Relationship Status: i decline to answer.

19. I had a hard time understanding: sentences written by beckett and joyce.

20. One time at a family gathering: there were a lot of relatives.

21. You know I "like" you if: i'm hitting on you.

22. If I won an award, the first person(people) I'd thank is/are: my bookie.

23. Take my advice: don't break up with someone to be with someone else. break up with someone because you don't want to be with them.

24. My ideal breakfast is: free, good, and ready when i am. if there are bacon and/or hash browns there, all the better.

25. If you visit a place I grew up: let me know.

26. Where do you plan to visit anytime soon: probably the pacific NW.

27. If you spend the night at my house: be prepared for a dog to shove his cold, wet snout in your face whilst you sleep.

28. I'd stop my wedding if: the groom was drunk.

29. The world could do without: cockroaches.

30. I'd rather lick the belly of a cockroach than date: nothing.

31. Most recent thing you've bought yourself: whole foods sushi, yoga clothes.

32. Most recent thing someone else bought for you: the entire weekend dani was here, i didn't spend a dime.

33. My favorite blonde is: i hate favorite questions

34. My favorite brunette is: i hate favorite questions

36. The last time I was drunk was: 2 thursdays ago

37. The animals I would like to see flying besides birds are: babies.

38. I shouldn't have been: in perceptual psychology class in college.

39. Once, at a bar: i told pope jokes in french

40. Last night I: was up too late talking to pei lo mein

41. There's this girl I know who: sings opera like an angel but has the mouth of a sailor

42: I don't know: mischa barton

43. A better name for me would be: i've been told brooke would be better - i'm not blonde or floofy enough for heather.

44. If I ever go back to school I'll: be changing fields, more than likely.

45. How many days until my birthday?: 1 month and 9 days.

you're in grad school

words you should be able to spell and/or pronounce:

• Colombia
• non-potable
• diaspora
• trafficking
• narco-trafficking
• psychosomatic
• nuclear
• proliferation
• PSI (i know, expecting you to remember proliferation security initiative is tricky - but not knowing the initials?)
• hegemony/hegemonic

there are probably more, but these were just mispronounced and/or misspelled in one class this afternoon.

lame excuse

with 20 minutes to go (in texas, anyway, i get an hour and 20 minutes still), it's time to say happy birthday thomas! i hope your day was happy and filled with good friends, good people, and good conversations to ring in your 33rd year. (old man)

and did you hear tom delay was leaving congress? if not, you're nuts because that happened weeks ago.

in my defense, this is a last minute post because my computer was dead, and i had to fight with it for hours before finally reinstalling my OS, and now it's back up and i had some reconfiguring to do and stuff like that, and now i'm really tired because i didn't sleep well tonight.

is that at least semi-passable for an excuse?

blahhhhhhhh

computer at home died again.

i have to try to resurrect it tonight to rescue my powerpoint presentation i have to give tomorrow.

stupid computer.

lilacs in bloom

i don't pay a lot of attention to flora.

i don't like gardening, i don't like owning plants. all of this comes from my repulsion to touching dirt.

but this morning i finally realized that the backyard has smelled so good for the past week or so because the lilac bushes bloomed.

today was bizarro because i was sick of the yard looking ugly, so i weeded.

until one of the seed pods from the morning glory monster weed ate my hands and made me bleed.

then i decided i was done communing with nature. nature, however is not done with me, and i still have one of the spines in my finger. 3 nurses and a hypodermic needle* couldn't get it out.

*this was at easter dinner where there were 3 nurses present - i didn't go to the ER for a splinter

judas iscariot is kicking up seashells and he's cursing

so, this might not be the most appropriate post title on easter, but so it goes.

it's from "judas" by antje duvekot (links later - i'm a little pressed for time), the song that actually attempts to put one of the most reviled characters in christian history, not in a favorable light, but a more human one. i've lately been thinking about the christian adage, "love the sinner, hate the sin" and wondering why it doesn't apply to judas. because he was just a man. a man who made some crappy choices, and killed himself. a man reeking of sin, but human nonetheless. besides, without him, we wouldn't be having easter. anyhow.

in an ongoing attempt to avoid doing schoolwork, i dyed my hair red. again. and judas was reported to be a redhead. and i have been known to make crappy choices. but i digress from the topic at hand: my hair.

this time i tried feria power red in ruby rush. i bought it because the box looked like this:

and it said this:

darkest hair? that's me!!

but i don't know that it's all that different. i decided against buying the 100% color in copper because i was scared by the after pictures on the box on darkest hair.

(click any of the thumbnails for bigger)

what do you think? red? not so much? by the way, it's curled and i'm wearing makeup because i'm going to my aunt's house for easter dinner with pei lo mein.

and for those of you who think i don't smile in self-portraits (i rarely do, to be fair), here's one where i almost smile.

what a way to wake up

this morning, the beast woke me up for his morning wee-wee around 5:45 (thanks ernie).

i opened my eyes and my curtains were backlit with the most vibrant, amazing orange. it reminded me of when the grand prix fire was burning (like 3 blocks from my house) and the middle of the day was as red as the fiery flames of hell...opened the sixth seal...and the sun became as black as sackcloth, and the moon became as blood...

whoops, got distracted by biblical imagery there for a minute. however the grand prix fire was something to behold - my hair, clothes, pet were covered with ash. my roommate and i piled ernie in the car and drove him to my parents' house (they were on the other side of the freeway - the non-fire side). that saturday, the day i thought for sure we were going to be evacuated, i canceled all of my music therapy clients. one of the few times i've ever canceled clients for non-illness (the other was when someone slammed into my car at lunchtime)

for WEEKS my a/c in my car blew bits of ash and other particulates when it was first turned on. many people i know were evacuated. one of my dad's co-workers lost her house.

so i wondered if denver was on fire.

i put on enough clothes to let the dog out, and saw that it wasn't a fire. the goregeous, orange, fiery sunrise was being reflected in the underside of the fast, incoming cloud cover. the sky was orange, the light was orange, and within 2 seconds of stepping outside, the skies opened up and rained a heavy, spring rain. warm, with the smell of spring and summer rains.

if it weren't before 6 on a saturday morning, i totally would have tried to get pictures. but instead i went back to bed.

knitting ADD

noticed the lack of knitting content?

well, i'm 5 inches into calla with the frog tree alpaca.

7 inches into t-twist tee with butterfly super 10 (or supafly) cotton.

and 49580984131 feet into lady eleanor with the noro silk garden with 2.5 skeins to go.

i just bought the tubular cami pattern, and dug up some cottontots i had languishing in my yarn basket.

nothing's holding my attention.

the ill-fated frog tree doesn't show cables all that well.

to be fair, i'm almost out of yarn for t-twist tee, and have to frog kyoto (my first sweater!) to get more. that's a lot of work. and the miles of stockinette - which is at least in the round.

and i'm bored of lady eleanor.

weird dreams again

i had a dream involving a weird scavenger hunt. i was with my uncles and ernie, and we didn't know we had to go on a scavenger hunt until we found an eggo waffle with a sheet of ice over it with the clues stamped into the ice.

unfortunately, half of the clues melted before we could write them down. but we got most of them. we piled into a van, and drove around, following as many of the directions as we could, and ultimately found the first location (so we thought) on the trip - an amphibious plane, 3 small boats, and a dinghy. which was located about 2 miles from a ship laden with chemicals on fire.

but someone figured out that before we could take the plane, we had to take a certain route and make a stop in a field off the road, a clearing in a small wood. we did, and found 2 people in a unicorn costume. which turned into an actual unicorn (in my dream, the unicorn was brown and shaggy and about the size of a shetland pony. i rather like this concept of unicorns. way to go subconscious!). ernie got out of the van when i got out to figure out what to do, and i was afraid he'd attack the unicorn. (talk about bad luck) but he and the unicorn played in the field, and the unicorn had a unicolt and the three of them were playing for a bit before i figured out i had to get the unicorns back into their own van safely. finally i did - the tricky part was getting ernie OUT of the unicorns' van. we got back in the car and were awarded a flyer that said something along the lines of "following your corral time of the unicorns, you are awarded an 80s genre." something that said we had to dress and talk like we were in the 80s for the rest of the hunt. if ernie hadn't been so playful we could have stayed in our contemporary clothes.

we started driving back toward the fire and the plane/boats/dinghy, and i woke up somewhere along the way...

mystery scratches

once again, i have to wonder precisely who inhabits my body.

because on tuesday night, i noticed that my ankle was stinging and sore, and looked and saw these scratches. they're healing now but still hurt (you can also see that i haven't shaved my legs today - stupid brunetteness...).

i still have no clue how i got them.

or why my peroneal tendons are SO swollen.

so clearly, someone else lives inside of me, injures me, and allows me to reinhabit my body again later to share in the bumps, bruises, scratches, and swelling. woohoo!

(and excuse my heels. i have hyperkeratosis. hence my addiction to pumice stones and pedicures. and other things starting with "p".)

i am a wreck, clearly.

she's really going to give me bladder control issues

not only do action figures do yoga, now robots lead the yoga and the others harbor malicious thoughts against the robots.

• Rodney: Nightcrawler, I know you're a mutant, do you have an extra eyeball anywhere on your body?
• Nightcrawler: Blue devil! That is a very personal question.

clearly, writing well IS the best revenge.

(if anyone wants to buy me a skidless yoga towel, by the way, please let me know and i'll let you!)

back of his head

i still love this picture a bunches

dude, you guys totally missed the point

so tonight we were discussing conventional weapons when someone pointed out that it wasn't an issue of the weapons manufacturers selling small arms and light weapons, it's more of a problem that there is a market for that. and if the market ended there wouldn't be a problem. which is fine but almost all SALW that are causing the majority of the problems are bought on the black market. (and somehow this blanket category covered everything from machetes to F-16s)

and it ALMOST devolved into a "guns don't kill people, people kill people" discussion. except it was actually a "proliferation of conventional weapons isn't the problem, political instability is the problem" discussion.

so i think that to eradicate political instability, we should have a new convention, along the lines of the npt, biological weapons convention, and convention on conventional weapons.

it should be the let's hold hands and skip convention.

because then we could proliferate conventional weapons all we want, just no one would be allowed to foster the hate and discord that leads to their use.

arms control

(another conversation with haiku girl)
h-g: "how do i control my arms?"

hf: "what seems to be the problem?"

h-g: "they're out of control!"

hf: "keep them down at your sides."

h-g: "it's not working!"

hf: "then take a valium."
_________________

there's a section in my arms control text (helpfully titled arms control) called "preventing the spread of arms" which makes me sad because no one should hate hugs that much.

however, i love the class.

reasons i'm swamped with studying today

1. i had company from thursday through sunday.
2. it's been goregeous this weekend.
3. i tried to study yesterday with particleman at stella's (after we lunched at the crazy asian cafe). stella's is sadly just 4 blocks from the denver folklore center. we went and played and saw a man come in asking about mountain dulcimers who couldn't have looked any more like mitch, much less sounded like him if he tried. (by the way, thanks again for lunch, pman!)
   
4. i'm a slacker.
5. that's basically it.

look! picture from new york last summer!

ah... to be unemployed again...

thomas put up a post about singing the songs from zoboomafoo.

i LOVE zoboomafoo. i used to watch it in 2000 and 2001 when i lived in georgia. both littlegoat and i were unemployed for a time, and were around to watch pbs kids shows. love singing their songs.

love the going to the closet, the theme song, and the mystery animal song.

and i've had a huge crush on martin kratt for about 6 years. sadly, he's married.

guess i gotta keep looking.

old news

the new knitty has been up for about 12 hours, and i just found out.

i like the nautilussssesssess, the t twist tee (by boulder-ish knitter zenifer!), tendrils, nagano sakura, a way toned-down version of mesilla, and the doubleknit scarf.

however, it's 76 degrees today, and i'm thinking about scarves. that seems flawed. i think i'll make a coily nautilus, zenifer's top, and maybe a mesilla.

maybe not. we'll see.

that was unexpected

last night i met up with the inimitable particleman and his friends in wash park. we got there in the midst of them doing stupid human tricks. i wanted to pick up the dollar bill with my teeth, but wasn't wearing pants with a high enough rise. so, when john offered to do a human body traverse, i said i'd let him traverse me (not a euphemism).

unfortunately, he was worried about it, so he got halfway over me, and i asked him to stop so that i could reorient my stance. he stopped entirely and decided to traverse carrico (who is about a foot taller than i - as is john, coincidentally).

and i got to video tape it. (it's dark - it was night, and there wasn't great lighting, but you should get the idea) (also, honey is a dog)



then we went to funky buddha, wherein we were met up by pei and crew.

particleman is too much fun. and i almost got climbed last night. we may meet up again on monday and maybe i'll remember pictures then. other than that, i've got to take dani to the airport now.

bye dani. bye bye.

quit yer bellyachin' kids

prom pics. it turns out i didn't take many (or any ) at the prom itself, but whatevs. i didn't even get pictures of all the people who were there.

but my makeup looked good.

the whole set is here

omigod!

tonight's the grad school (or dare i say, rad school) prom!

i got a dress! i got shoes! i got accessories!

i seem to have a 40's theme going on with my pattern and shoes, i need to now figure out my makeup and hair to match.

actually makeup's pretty much figured out. but i'm hung over from the wine last night. things will likely be slow tonight - and i'm driving to thus guarantee that.

because tomorrow i get to hang out with particleman! hurrah!

i am running so behind today, yet i blog

i have to take a shower, clean my house and leave for the airport in 20 minutes.

the likelihood of all this happening? pretty low - but shower and airport are required.

my danibear friend, one of my roommates from college, friend for 11 years (although i haven't seen her since thanksgiving of 1997) is coming to denver for the weekend.

and for the grad school prom.

i got a dress, i got a hot date, all i need is a pedicure and a glass of wine.

we're doing other things but i don't have time to talk about them at the moment.

things that make me unreasonably happy

i just heard primus' "tommy the cat".

the air was thick with catcalls. no pun intended.

my school is classy

at my school, they've built a new law school, a new hospitality school, and a new business school within the past 10 years.

this is my school of international studies. they front entrance (on the second floor) is closed because this picture window on the third floor is cracked. and repair jobs have consisted of masking tape on the window and masking tape preventing people from touching the cracked window. it turns out people who work for the peace corps and not-for-profits don't sink a lot of money into alumni relations.

although condi rice should be able to cough up enough to replace the window as one of our most esteemed alumni.

because this is what patrick does with his lower lip when he's scared too

if it ain't working go here

remember when sunday was meme day? now it's monday!

1. Where were you 1 hour ago?
debating getting out of bed. i did.

2. When is the last time you filled up your gas tank?
march 15

3. most amount of money you spent in one store?
spent $800 getting a new sofa and chair when my apartment leaked and ruined my old one.

4. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?
highlighter

5. When is the last time you went to the mall?
march 14, cherry creek mall. took the picture of the scary food playground.

6. Are you wearing socks right now?
nope. and my feet are freezing. my learning curve with this is pretty ugly.

7. Do you have a car worth over $5,000?
nope

8. When was the last time you drove out of town?
i went to the airport on the 15th, which is in BFE and through aurora

9. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days?
no

10. Do you have long hair?
yes

11. What was the last thing you had to drink?
tapwater

12. What was the last thing you mailed in the mail?
birthday cd to erik

13. Do you wash your car?
i go to the full-service car wash. i've never washed a car. blame my dad - he raised me to go to the car wash.

14. Last fast food you ate?
cheerios

15. Where were you last week at this time?
recovering from 24

16. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week?
negatory and i still need a prom dress.

17. What bank do you use?
i'm not putting that on the internet.

18. Do you own any land?
no

19. What do you want to be when you "grow up"?
well-rested and not flat broke

20. Your dream vacation?
3 month eastern and western european holiday

21. Last boat ride you went on?
i went on the jungle cruise at disneyland in 2004

22. How old are your parents?
56

23. [deleted as it annoyed me]

24. Do you have any single friends?
yes

25. Last play you saw?
no clue

26. Have you been to New York?
yes

27. What are your plans for tonight?
lay low and pretend school doesn't start tomorrow

28. Last concert you went to?
dar williams in october

29. Next trip you are going to take?
uncertain

30. Ever gone to camp?
for like 13 years

31. Were you an honor roll student in school?
yes

32. What is your current GPA?
3.6

33. Are you wearing any perfume or cologne?
eau de just rolled out of bed

34. Are you hungry?
no

35. Where is your best friend located?
portland, seattle (there are 2)

36. Do you own a cowboy hat?
not anymore

37. Do you have a tan?
i sat outside for an hour yesterday for the first day in ages. but probably not.

38. How old do you want to be when you have kids?
um, 29 or older.

39. Do you collect anything?
no

40. Is this quiz annoying?
sometimes

41. Last time you got pulled over?
haven't been (knock on wood)

42. Ever been arrested?
no

43. Been to Mexico for Spring Break?
no

44. Do you like hot sauce?
soooooooo much

45. [deleted as it was in poor taste]

46. Do you need to do laundry?
you have no idea

47. How many friends do you have?
real friends? 4-5

48. Are you someone’s best friend?
yes

49. Are you rich?
definitely not with regard to money. in other senses, yes.

50. What are you thinking right this minute?
about all the laundry i have to do.

linky

24's about to start.

i'm in a bit of a hurry.

so read this on christine kane's blog. it's about bulimia and it's really well written. and i've just gotten back into christine kane mode.

i'm proud of people who do brave things even when their brain goes into overdrive and they try to think of all the caveats and things that will get in their way. even if they give you horrifying visuals about spiders in your airbag.

i want to knit this.

i don't recommending eating a 16 oz cup full of mini gummy bears over 9 hours because you'll want to barf. (no link because i love you)

hey, look! neal's half nekkid and only showers 2x/week!

okay, gotta run.

i did my homework this weekend.

...well mostly, i have some reading to do on tuesday all day for my tuesday night class.

but i have to do a presentation tomorrow, and i finished that by 8:15 tonight.

so if anyone would like to buy me a present (i don't need the deluxe case, the rigid one will do nicely), email me and i'll give you my shipping address.

thanks!

the legend of ernie and shamu (or how many times can one say "shamu" in a single post?)

when he was a baby, ernie's favorite toy was a stuffed shamu. he used to carry shamu by the tail everywhere and sleep with his head on shamu's tummy.

and when he was about 4 months old (in march-ish of 2000), he ate shamu's tail and started to steal shamu's stuffing out of the resulting hole.

so i took shamu away from him because i loved shamu, too.
my uncle bought me shamu at walgreens in 1999 because i had flown to chicago for my grandfather's funeral and i forgot my toothbrush. so he went to walgreens and bought me a toothbrush and shamu because i had "the look of someone who needed a marine mammal"

[aside IM commentary
semaphoria: you still have that look from time to time.
me: don't we all?]

about 3 months later ernie found shamu again and he walked around with shamu in his mouth for hours (and tried to bite lumpy who wanted to sniff shamu). and i let him keep shamu until he found the hole where the tail used to be, and he started eviscerating shamu's fluff.

so i tried to take shamu, and he clenched his mouth shut and looked so sad. he didn't do the tug-of war thing that dogs do, he just didn't want to let him go.

it was the saddest thing i've ever seen

but when he tried to eviscerate shamu again, i took it away.

right now, tailless shamu lives on the bookcase in the garage at my mom's house in california.

[aside IM commentary
semaphoria: this is a very sad story, muffin.
me: i know, isn't it?]

and i don't have a single picture of ernie and shamu. but when i was living in california in probably 2003, i showed shamu to ernie again to see if he'd remember his childhood chum. he did. it was a repeat of the last time he and shamu were reunited (except for trying to bite lumpy who lived in florida at the time. and still does) from the not letting go to the eviscerating to both of us feeling sad.

this bummed me out

yaymee was on instant messenger TWICE in the past 2 days and i missed her both times...

the second time by like 5 minutes.

sigh...