But to everyone out there in bloggy land, I wish this for you:
May you have the hindsight to know where you've been
the foresight to know where you're going
and the insight to know when you're going too far.
Happy New Year, everybody!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Happy New Year, Easter Bunny!
But to everyone out there in bloggy land, I wish this for you:
May you have the hindsight to know where you've been
the foresight to know where you're going
and the insight to know when you're going too far.
Happy New Year, everybody!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Yes, I am saying it's my birthday. Now shut up.
So today's my birthday.
It kinda sucks having your birthday two days before a major holiday, especially one in the dead of winter. It meant everyone was always super-busy getting ready for Christmas on my birthday and didn't have much time to spare. It also meant getting ornaments as gifts, which, believe me, is one of the suckiest gifts you can give a kid. Worse than socks.
I had one birthday party when I was little- and unfortunately it happened to be the year I turned 7.
A week earlier, I had been playing outside in the bitter cold with a friend when she threw my hat up in one of our trees. I climbed the tree to retrieve it and a branch broke under my foot. No bones broken, nothing seemed wrong but my leg hurt- right in the middle of my thigh. Eventually my friend went home and I went inside to warm up. I didn't know anything was wrong until I went to change out of my pants and saw a gaping hole in my leg. It never bled- didn't even tear a hole in my pants (those were some tough corduroys).
We made a flying trip to the emergency room and I got sewed up. I even got to open an early birthday present. It was a pretty bad tear- in addition to numerous invisible stitches, I had seven regular stitches that were removed a week later, leaving me with a decent -sized scar on my leg that I still have to this day.
But while I was stitched up (and being forced to take it easy so I didn't tear said stitches out) I had my birthday and my one party. I had three friends over: Danielle, Lois Jane, and Tarra, who happened to be the friend who threw my hat up in the tree in the first place, thanks a lot. I got to sit at the table and watch them play with the toys I had just opened. Stellar.
In the years since, it hasn't been that bad (except for one notoriously bad birthday two years ago that I'll write about sometime later). Celebrating usually means going out to dinner somewhere nice. And I've learned to make my birthday fun for me. Which means I get a whole day of doing whatever I want. Which doesn't explain why I spent the morning dusting my kitchen.
It kinda sucks having your birthday two days before a major holiday, especially one in the dead of winter. It meant everyone was always super-busy getting ready for Christmas on my birthday and didn't have much time to spare. It also meant getting ornaments as gifts, which, believe me, is one of the suckiest gifts you can give a kid. Worse than socks.
I had one birthday party when I was little- and unfortunately it happened to be the year I turned 7.
A week earlier, I had been playing outside in the bitter cold with a friend when she threw my hat up in one of our trees. I climbed the tree to retrieve it and a branch broke under my foot. No bones broken, nothing seemed wrong but my leg hurt- right in the middle of my thigh. Eventually my friend went home and I went inside to warm up. I didn't know anything was wrong until I went to change out of my pants and saw a gaping hole in my leg. It never bled- didn't even tear a hole in my pants (those were some tough corduroys).
We made a flying trip to the emergency room and I got sewed up. I even got to open an early birthday present. It was a pretty bad tear- in addition to numerous invisible stitches, I had seven regular stitches that were removed a week later, leaving me with a decent -sized scar on my leg that I still have to this day.
In the years since, it hasn't been that bad (except for one notoriously bad birthday two years ago that I'll write about sometime later). Celebrating usually means going out to dinner somewhere nice. And I've learned to make my birthday fun for me. Which means I get a whole day of doing whatever I want. Which doesn't explain why I spent the morning dusting my kitchen.
Day Ten! For the love of all that's holy...
Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. This was a tad more tiresome than I thought it would be.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. This was a tad more tiresome than I thought it would be.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Day Nine, crimeney
Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
I'm not sure I understand this one.
1. ; }
2. : |
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
I'm not sure I understand this one.
1. ; }
2. : |
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Day Eight
Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
Oooh, "turn ons." This is so 1976.
1. Sense of humor
2. Kindness
3. Loves animals
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
Oooh, "turn ons." This is so 1976.
1. Sense of humor
2. Kindness
3. Loves animals
Monday, December 20, 2010
Day Seven
Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. The sound of people eating
2. Being interrupted / talked over
3. Flesh-colored pantyhose
4. Pronouncing 'coupon' "kyoo-pon" instead of "koo-pon."
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. The sound of people eating
2. Being interrupted / talked over
3. Flesh-colored pantyhose
4. Pronouncing 'coupon' "kyoo-pon" instead of "koo-pon."
Saturday, December 18, 2010
More than halfway there!
Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. My friend LB, whom I miss very much
2. My husband, Brett
3. My sister, Katie, who is living with us while she trains to be a massage therapist. It's been so much fun to have her around all the time, and she's an excellent house guest who helps with chores.
4. My brother, Kevin, who never fails to amuse. When my mother asked him recently if he wanted to go shopping with her, he replied, "I don't think it's in my best interest."
5. One of the very sweet ladies at work, Martha. She submitted some sculpture pieces of hers for our Resident Art Calendar and when I ran into her yesterday morning in line for her meds, she asked- so timidly- if she could possibly have a few more copies of it for family members. She held my hand & patted it while I told her about my plans for a Resident Art Show in the spring, which she agreed to participate in. My grandma Genevieve was one of my best pals in addition to being my grandmother and godmother. She passed away 4 years ago and I miss her all the time. But this sweet lady reminded me that in addition to doing work I love, I'm surrounded by 150-some grandmas every time I'm at work. Granted, some are fairly cantakerous and some just plain unpleasant, but the grand majority of the residents are delightful and I thank this woman for reminding me how lucky I am to have this job and get to know them.
(Hope Santa was reading that last one. I could use the points.)
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. My friend LB, whom I miss very much
2. My husband, Brett
3. My sister, Katie, who is living with us while she trains to be a massage therapist. It's been so much fun to have her around all the time, and she's an excellent house guest who helps with chores.
4. My brother, Kevin, who never fails to amuse. When my mother asked him recently if he wanted to go shopping with her, he replied, "I don't think it's in my best interest."
5. One of the very sweet ladies at work, Martha. She submitted some sculpture pieces of hers for our Resident Art Calendar and when I ran into her yesterday morning in line for her meds, she asked- so timidly- if she could possibly have a few more copies of it for family members. She held my hand & patted it while I told her about my plans for a Resident Art Show in the spring, which she agreed to participate in. My grandma Genevieve was one of my best pals in addition to being my grandmother and godmother. She passed away 4 years ago and I miss her all the time. But this sweet lady reminded me that in addition to doing work I love, I'm surrounded by 150-some grandmas every time I'm at work. Granted, some are fairly cantakerous and some just plain unpleasant, but the grand majority of the residents are delightful and I thank this woman for reminding me how lucky I am to have this job and get to know them.
(Hope Santa was reading that last one. I could use the points.)
Friday, December 17, 2010
Is it really only Day Five???
Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. Climbed that tree that I fell out of and cut my leg open. (See Day Two, Number Seven)
2. Cut bangs / cut my hair short last spring
3. Stood up too fast while I was under the stairs at the SPCA trying to coax a loose black cat out from the hiding space back there. I smacked the bridge of my nose into the underside of the stairs when I stood up too fast, knocked me backward on my azz, got a minor concussion, split the skin on my nose (and put a wee dent in the bone there too) and had two lovely black eyes for about a week.
4. Goofed around & done the minimum to get by in high school. There was no motivation or even need to do more, but I wonder where I might've gone if I'd been really aggressive and pushed for more opportunities.
5. Rode that skateboard while holding onto a jumprope tied to the back of my cousin's bike while he was riding it. Wiped out in a pile of gravel and still have the scars to prove it.
6. Tried to vault over that sawhorse in the bar parking lot in Myrtle Beach on vacation in college. I only broke a toe, but it was embarrassing.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. Climbed that tree that I fell out of and cut my leg open. (See Day Two, Number Seven)
2. Cut bangs / cut my hair short last spring
3. Stood up too fast while I was under the stairs at the SPCA trying to coax a loose black cat out from the hiding space back there. I smacked the bridge of my nose into the underside of the stairs when I stood up too fast, knocked me backward on my azz, got a minor concussion, split the skin on my nose (and put a wee dent in the bone there too) and had two lovely black eyes for about a week.
4. Goofed around & done the minimum to get by in high school. There was no motivation or even need to do more, but I wonder where I might've gone if I'd been really aggressive and pushed for more opportunities.
5. Rode that skateboard while holding onto a jumprope tied to the back of my cousin's bike while he was riding it. Wiped out in a pile of gravel and still have the scars to prove it.
6. Tried to vault over that sawhorse in the bar parking lot in Myrtle Beach on vacation in college. I only broke a toe, but it was embarrassing.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. Did I remember ... (insert task- to feed the dogs, unplug the hairdryer, flush the toilet- yes, for some reason I worry about that).
2. What would happen if I ... (shoved that old man and ran, told that girl her skirt gives her a muffin top, screamed "POOP!" at the top of my lungs in a crowded space ...)
3. Most people don't pay attention to most things.
4. Can I have candy bars for lunch?
5. What if I just DON'T get out of bed today?
6. I wonder what the dogs are doing right now?
7. There's a lot of people out there better off than me, and a lot of people out there much worse off, so there's no point in complaining.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. Did I remember ... (insert task- to feed the dogs, unplug the hairdryer, flush the toilet- yes, for some reason I worry about that).
2. What would happen if I ... (shoved that old man and ran, told that girl her skirt gives her a muffin top, screamed "POOP!" at the top of my lungs in a crowded space ...)
3. Most people don't pay attention to most things.
4. Can I have candy bars for lunch?
5. What if I just DON'T get out of bed today?
6. I wonder what the dogs are doing right now?
7. There's a lot of people out there better off than me, and a lot of people out there much worse off, so there's no point in complaining.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Stolen, part III
Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. send me flowers (or even a plant)
2. share your candy with me
3. rub my back
4. remember the (many) things I don't like to eat
5. don't interrupt me (or speak over me)
6. be a character (I don't mean someone invented or created; I mean a quirky, memorable individual)
7. like the same music I do (or at least appreciate it)
8. play with toys
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. send me flowers (or even a plant)
2. share your candy with me
3. rub my back
4. remember the (many) things I don't like to eat
5. don't interrupt me (or speak over me)
6. be a character (I don't mean someone invented or created; I mean a quirky, memorable individual)
7. like the same music I do (or at least appreciate it)
8. play with toys
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Stolen, Part Two
Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. I hate pork chops, brussels sprouts and fried calamari.
2. I'm excessively superstitious.
3. I have to have the back of my neck covered or I can't sleep.
4. I worry about becoming hunchbacked.
5. I have 4,232 songs on my ipod.
6. I can- and have- eaten an entire jar of capers. And drank the brine.
7. I fell out of a tree 7 days before my 7th birthday, in 7 degree weather. I had 7 stitches in the tear, which were removed 7 days later and left me with a 7cm scar.
8. I have two tattoos- kermit the frog on my shoulder, and a little green shamrock on my hip.
9. Oatmeal is just about the only thing I can eat first thing in the morning.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. I hate pork chops, brussels sprouts and fried calamari.
2. I'm excessively superstitious.
3. I have to have the back of my neck covered or I can't sleep.
4. I worry about becoming hunchbacked.
5. I have 4,232 songs on my ipod.
6. I can- and have- eaten an entire jar of capers. And drank the brine.
7. I fell out of a tree 7 days before my 7th birthday, in 7 degree weather. I had 7 stitches in the tear, which were removed 7 days later and left me with a 7cm scar.
8. I have two tattoos- kermit the frog on my shoulder, and a little green shamrock on my hip.
9. Oatmeal is just about the only thing I can eat first thing in the morning.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Stolen from my friend LB
Day One: Ten things you want to say to ten different people right now.
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. You drank the teeny tiny bit of red wine that we had and left me with CHARDONNAY??
2. Yes, you're right. Your life is so much tougher than mine.
3. Honey, you might want to try breathing in between all that talking.
4. You already had dinner, and more than enough treats.
5. Please, please, please come visit!
6. Please just buy me books for Christmas. It will make me happier than anything else.
7. You two sooooo deserve each other.
8. Suck it, fancy.
9. Please come be my friend!
10. Why are you so awesome?
Day Two: Nine things about yourself.
Day Three: Eight ways to win your heart.
Day Four: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.
Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.
Day Six: Five people who mean a lot (in no order whatsoever)
Day Seven: Four turn offs.
Day Eight: Three turn ons.
Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.
Day Ten: One confession.
1. You drank the teeny tiny bit of red wine that we had and left me with CHARDONNAY??
2. Yes, you're right. Your life is so much tougher than mine.
3. Honey, you might want to try breathing in between all that talking.
4. You already had dinner, and more than enough treats.
5. Please, please, please come visit!
6. Please just buy me books for Christmas. It will make me happier than anything else.
7. You two sooooo deserve each other.
8. Suck it, fancy.
9. Please come be my friend!
10. Why are you so awesome?
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
I'm a winner- the button says so.
And it was 30 days of my very busiest time at work, along with a crazy holiday and birthday celebration thrown in there for good measure.
While I am VERY impressed with my certificate and web buttons, I am more pleased with the fact that taking this challenge on has helped me establish a daily writing habit again, which I haven't done since college. All the excuses I've given myself- I'm too drained after work, there's not enough time at night, blah blah blah- have all been proven pointless.
So now? Finish the story (oh yeah, 50,000= not even close to done), polish 'er up, and see if I just might be get a publisher interested.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Happy thanksgiving from Dragon-Eye
Whew. It's been a whirlwind around here.
We haven't done a family Thanksgiving in years- I usually volunteer to work the Friday after Turkey Day because it's quiet and uneventful and I can get a lot of important crap done like cleaning my office without interruptions. My mom was thankful (pun intended) because it turns out that she hates Thanksgiving- a lot of work for a quick payoff, is how she describes it. When I was a kid, she and her sisters split up the holidays amongst themselves and we always ended up in Binghamton at my Aunt Mary Margaret's for Thanksgiving with all my cousins. The women would ship us kids and all the men off to Ross Park Zoo for the day to keep us out of the kitchen and underfoot. One year, we got to pet a wolf pup who was out for a walk on a leash! His name was Ivan.
This year, I didn't have a choice to work or not. One of the main people at work retired and they haven't filled her position yet, which means the rest of us had to take her tasks on in the interim. Apparently, in senior living communities like where I work, the day after Thanksgiving is an enormously popular day for getting info and touring. I have begun calling it Gray Friday. It turns out that when people are visiting for the holidays, they notice Mom and/or Dad isn't handling things as well as they used to- difficulty getting around, misplacing things (shoes in the freezer, that sort of thing) and they immediately want to check out living options. So not only did I work my tail off on Gray Friday, I was also the Administrator On-Call, which sucks donkeys.
Fortunately, my friend Dan who is an aspiring chef, decided to cook Thanksgiving dinner for all of us who couldn't make it home with our families and my friend Eric agreed to host, as he just bought a new house and had been dying to have a get-together. So Dan prepared a turducken for us with sausage stuffing made from local meats, along with delicious roasted root vegetables, asparagus with asiago cheese, sweet potato pudding, and nice garlicky chunky smashed potatoes.
Then Eric decided that he wanted to celebrate his birthday a little early and do a pub-crawl on Friday night. It's 5:40pm on Saturday and I'm still hurting. We didn't get home until 3:30am. I'm too old for this kind of sh!t.
And I'm behind on my NaNoWriMo wordcount, dammit.
We haven't done a family Thanksgiving in years- I usually volunteer to work the Friday after Turkey Day because it's quiet and uneventful and I can get a lot of important crap done like cleaning my office without interruptions. My mom was thankful (pun intended) because it turns out that she hates Thanksgiving- a lot of work for a quick payoff, is how she describes it. When I was a kid, she and her sisters split up the holidays amongst themselves and we always ended up in Binghamton at my Aunt Mary Margaret's for Thanksgiving with all my cousins. The women would ship us kids and all the men off to Ross Park Zoo for the day to keep us out of the kitchen and underfoot. One year, we got to pet a wolf pup who was out for a walk on a leash! His name was Ivan.
This year, I didn't have a choice to work or not. One of the main people at work retired and they haven't filled her position yet, which means the rest of us had to take her tasks on in the interim. Apparently, in senior living communities like where I work, the day after Thanksgiving is an enormously popular day for getting info and touring. I have begun calling it Gray Friday. It turns out that when people are visiting for the holidays, they notice Mom and/or Dad isn't handling things as well as they used to- difficulty getting around, misplacing things (shoes in the freezer, that sort of thing) and they immediately want to check out living options. So not only did I work my tail off on Gray Friday, I was also the Administrator On-Call, which sucks donkeys.
Fortunately, my friend Dan who is an aspiring chef, decided to cook Thanksgiving dinner for all of us who couldn't make it home with our families and my friend Eric agreed to host, as he just bought a new house and had been dying to have a get-together. So Dan prepared a turducken for us with sausage stuffing made from local meats, along with delicious roasted root vegetables, asparagus with asiago cheese, sweet potato pudding, and nice garlicky chunky smashed potatoes. |
| asparagus w/asiago cheese & roasted root veggies |
 |
| sweet potato pudding in the foreground |
 |
| appetizers! Brie en croute with cranberry relish |
 |
| my one contribution- white chocolate cherry shortbread cookies |
 |
| It was a doggiepalooza! Rhea, Frances and Kylie beg for scraps. |
Then Eric decided that he wanted to celebrate his birthday a little early and do a pub-crawl on Friday night. It's 5:40pm on Saturday and I'm still hurting. We didn't get home until 3:30am. I'm too old for this kind of sh!t.
 |
| Me & Polly. I was wearing one of Eric's hats as a b'day tribute. And 'cause I liked it. |
 |
| We made new friends at the diner. Is that Steven Tyler? |
 |
| Our friend Mark was nicknamed "Dragon Eye" all night because of his tshirt. He's very excited to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. |
And I'm behind on my NaNoWriMo wordcount, dammit.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Why I haven't been posting lately ...
Yup. Just dumb enough to try to write 50,000 words in 30 days.
We're at day 11. So far so good.
(Note that the monkey appears to be flipping us the bird. How appropriate.)
Friday, October 22, 2010
Think of me when there is pee
My friend LB and I are juvenile.
One of our favorite ways to pass time together is screaming in laughter.
Typically at things that would similarly amuse preteen boys.
Don't get me wrong- we are highly educated, sophisticated, well-read women. Our times together have included museum visits, book discussion groups, and important, award-winning films. But inevitably, we go back to Jackass.
I think we stumbled upon it just channel-surfing. Something about a grown man putting a toy car up his bum just cracked us the hell up.
On vacation in Vermont, we watched Jackass 2.5, and in between groaning and hiding behind our hands, we screamed with laughter like goddamn lunatics.
I went to see Jackass 3D with some friends last night and LB and I had the following conversations before and after viewing. I think you can see that we are essentially 14-year-old boys at heart.
Me: Dammit, there was something I was going to tell you today that would've made you very proud of me but I forget what it was. Oh! I know! I watched my first episode of A Bit of Fry & Laurie last night! I hearted it to death. And I'm going to see Jackass 3D tonight!
LB: You can't see me, but I just put my hands up to my mouth and welled up a bit with tears. I AM SO PROUD!!! yayay!! I love that show, tooooo! <3
Are you going alone to see jackass? I don't know why I will go see most things alone, but I don't want to go see that alone. weird.
Me: I am going with dan & polly, brett & our friend eric, who you would like quite a much.
LB: oh! i want to talk with eric. you are going to have fun. lucky duck. ;) i will be working tonight. wish me luck with the crazy folks!
Me: I will be thinking of you as Bam Margera pees out into the audience in 3D. Did you see the Buffalo Roller Skating clip on the Daily show last week? I'll try to find it and send it to you. HILARIOUS.
LB: i did not see this clip!! send it to me!! yes, think of me when there is pee!
Me: Is that like you being proud of my #2?
(Note: sometime this past summer, I had three good things happen to me at once. I listed them numerically in a note to LB. She wrote back: "I am so proud of your #2!" Giggles ensued.)
LB: hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. let us not get started on that again... i can go for hours. (that did not come out right. ... d'oh! i said "come out"!!). it's hard not to accidentally talk about poo.
And then this morning:
LB: I MUST KNOW HOW THE MOVIE WAS!!!
Me: OH MY GOD, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS!
No, seriously, it was AWESOME. I laughed till I cried.
We must do a jackass marathon next time we hang out.
It had a giant pig eating an apple out of a fat guy's ass. Does it get any better than that???
LB: OMG. i thought you meant like a hot dog. oh my. ahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa. crack.
i did hear that. i am proud of them boys.
Yeah, we have a problem. But I don't care. It makes me laugh, and that's good enough for me. But I think there's more to it than just a bunch of guys goofing around. For one thing, they take a great deal of care planning their pranks & stunts. One scene in the movie has Johnny Knoxville being Mr. Invisible. He's wearing a suit painted like a tree in front of a rainbow to blend into a backdrop. And then he tries to become 'invisible' to hide from a charging bull, but that's beside the point.
And they actually took the time to create an enormous hand on a spring that would snap out of nowhere and "high five" people right over on their butts. If the only point was to knock people over, you could've done it with a simple board. But they went farther and created a giant, powerful high-five. That's dedication. Yeah, some of it is pretty disgusting and definitely dangerous, but there's such a goodnatured gleefulness about it. It reminds me of when I was a fearless kid and only thought about how cool something would be, not whether I might break my neck or get bruises that I couldn't show up to work with on Monday. There's a slapstick element to it that dates back to Buster Keaton.
There have been numerous articles recently comparing Jackass to performance art, therefore the premiere at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. It's the extra elements around the prank/stunt itself that impress me- like Johnny Knoxville doing a ridiculous dance wearing a pink cardigan and old-school rollerskates in a muddy pen before getting knocked to the ground by a buffalo. In fact, THOSE ARE THE BEST PARTS. The buffalo hit is just the punctuation to the joke. You don't need elaborate costumes and backdrops to launch a dude on a teeny motorbike over a creek, but it adds so much, and hey- who doesn't like dressing up?
But MOMA-deserving or not, me & LB just like to laugh at fart jokes and people getting knocked down.
We're ahead of our time, that's all.
One of our favorite ways to pass time together is screaming in laughter.
Typically at things that would similarly amuse preteen boys.
Don't get me wrong- we are highly educated, sophisticated, well-read women. Our times together have included museum visits, book discussion groups, and important, award-winning films. But inevitably, we go back to Jackass.I think we stumbled upon it just channel-surfing. Something about a grown man putting a toy car up his bum just cracked us the hell up.
On vacation in Vermont, we watched Jackass 2.5, and in between groaning and hiding behind our hands, we screamed with laughter like goddamn lunatics.
I went to see Jackass 3D with some friends last night and LB and I had the following conversations before and after viewing. I think you can see that we are essentially 14-year-old boys at heart.
LB: You can't see me, but I just put my hands up to my mouth and welled up a bit with tears. I AM SO PROUD!!! yayay!! I love that show, tooooo! <3
Are you going alone to see jackass? I don't know why I will go see most things alone, but I don't want to go see that alone. weird.
LB: oh! i want to talk with eric. you are going to have fun. lucky duck. ;) i will be working tonight. wish me luck with the crazy folks!
Me: I will be thinking of you as Bam Margera pees out into the audience in 3D. Did you see the Buffalo Roller Skating clip on the Daily show last week? I'll try to find it and send it to you. HILARIOUS.
LB: i did not see this clip!! send it to me!! yes, think of me when there is pee!
Me: Is that like you being proud of my #2?
(Note: sometime this past summer, I had three good things happen to me at once. I listed them numerically in a note to LB. She wrote back: "I am so proud of your #2!" Giggles ensued.)
LB: hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. let us not get started on that again... i can go for hours. (that did not come out right. ... d'oh! i said "come out"!!). it's hard not to accidentally talk about poo.
LB: I MUST KNOW HOW THE MOVIE WAS!!!
Me: OH MY GOD, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS!
No, seriously, it was AWESOME. I laughed till I cried.
We must do a jackass marathon next time we hang out.
It had a giant pig eating an apple out of a fat guy's ass. Does it get any better than that???
LB: I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Me: Also, they played weiner baseball. Yup. Used it as a bat for a ping pong ball. did you hear that they had the premiere at MOMA in NYC???
LB: OMG. i thought you meant like a hot dog. oh my. ahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa. crack.i did hear that. i am proud of them boys.
Yeah, we have a problem. But I don't care. It makes me laugh, and that's good enough for me. But I think there's more to it than just a bunch of guys goofing around. For one thing, they take a great deal of care planning their pranks & stunts. One scene in the movie has Johnny Knoxville being Mr. Invisible. He's wearing a suit painted like a tree in front of a rainbow to blend into a backdrop. And then he tries to become 'invisible' to hide from a charging bull, but that's beside the point.
And they actually took the time to create an enormous hand on a spring that would snap out of nowhere and "high five" people right over on their butts. If the only point was to knock people over, you could've done it with a simple board. But they went farther and created a giant, powerful high-five. That's dedication. Yeah, some of it is pretty disgusting and definitely dangerous, but there's such a goodnatured gleefulness about it. It reminds me of when I was a fearless kid and only thought about how cool something would be, not whether I might break my neck or get bruises that I couldn't show up to work with on Monday. There's a slapstick element to it that dates back to Buster Keaton.
There have been numerous articles recently comparing Jackass to performance art, therefore the premiere at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. It's the extra elements around the prank/stunt itself that impress me- like Johnny Knoxville doing a ridiculous dance wearing a pink cardigan and old-school rollerskates in a muddy pen before getting knocked to the ground by a buffalo. In fact, THOSE ARE THE BEST PARTS. The buffalo hit is just the punctuation to the joke. You don't need elaborate costumes and backdrops to launch a dude on a teeny motorbike over a creek, but it adds so much, and hey- who doesn't like dressing up?
But MOMA-deserving or not, me & LB just like to laugh at fart jokes and people getting knocked down.
We're ahead of our time, that's all.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
F you and the Alan Parsons Project too
I'm too tired and sunburned to post the latest chapter in the Uggly Wugglies saga (I lost another Clarence; let's leave it at that for now).
I traveled to my hometown this weekend for my dad's birthday. In addition to hanging out with the old man and going out to dinner with him and my siblings (my mom is away with her sisters celebrating Auntie J's successful battle with breast cancer) visits home always include some kind of technological maintenance work on my part.
While my dad, who graduated with a minor in computer science in 1976, is a very bright man, he does not seem to understand passwords. The general concept of them. So he doesn't bother to remember them. Or write them down. So as my folks' desktop computer is in its death-throes and he wants to check his email on my mom's laptop which will require him to use webmail instead of the mail program he had been using, I had to change his password, as he didn't have a clue what the original one may have been.
The other part of my technological journey this weekend has been helping my brother load and use an iTunes gift card. My brother is a character, as I've mentioned here before. His musical selections on this day were, um, interesting. In addition to some admittedly awesome soul tunes, here are the songs he purchased that I was not able to block from my mind:
I thank whatever gods may be that he ran out of money before he could buy anything by the Alan Parsons Project.
I traveled to my hometown this weekend for my dad's birthday. In addition to hanging out with the old man and going out to dinner with him and my siblings (my mom is away with her sisters celebrating Auntie J's successful battle with breast cancer) visits home always include some kind of technological maintenance work on my part.
While my dad, who graduated with a minor in computer science in 1976, is a very bright man, he does not seem to understand passwords. The general concept of them. So he doesn't bother to remember them. Or write them down. So as my folks' desktop computer is in its death-throes and he wants to check his email on my mom's laptop which will require him to use webmail instead of the mail program he had been using, I had to change his password, as he didn't have a clue what the original one may have been.
The other part of my technological journey this weekend has been helping my brother load and use an iTunes gift card. My brother is a character, as I've mentioned here before. His musical selections on this day were, um, interesting. In addition to some admittedly awesome soul tunes, here are the songs he purchased that I was not able to block from my mind:
Afternoon Delight- Starland Vocal Band
The Hustle - Van McCoy & the Soul City Symphony
The Stroke- Billy Squier
Freeze Frame- J. Geils Band
And the piece de resistance, Al Stewart's "Time Passages":
I thank whatever gods may be that he ran out of money before he could buy anything by the Alan Parsons Project.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
ABCs of me
Totally ripping off Reverend Awesome on this one:
A - Age: 37
B - Bed size: Queen, but it sure feels a lot smaller with two adults and two 25-30 lbs. dogs
C - Chore you hate: Most, but washing big pots & pans makes me hulk-angry
D - Don’t eat: pork chops. Spicy asian food. Calamari. Chicken wings. (But I like boneless ones, which are basically nuggets with wing sauce, let's face it.)
E - Essential start your day item: Coffee and sitting.
F - Favorite board game: I always like Trivial Pursuit, but not the fancy specialty ones that are all we have (gifts). I enjoy Cranium, as long as I don't have to do charades or hum or any of the performance ones.
G - Gold or Silver: Is copper a choice?
H - Height: 5’ 2
I - Instruments you play: Clarinet. Saxophone. Poorly.
J - Job title: Director of Development & Community Relations (how high-falutin')
K - Kid(s): None here, but I do have a 20 year old godson who is very cool.
L - Love or lust: Lusty love.
M - Mom’s name: Nan. Really Andrea, but her childhood nickname was Nan for some reason & it stuck.
N - Nicknames: Her. Hamchuck. (See the name of this blog.)
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Nope.
P - Pants or pantyhose: I'm not crazy about either, but definitely pants over pantyhose. Those are an evil invention designed to make women crazy. And drag queens.
Q - Favorite Movie Quote: "Gee Ricky, I'm sorry your mom blew up." Better Off Dead
R - Right or left handed: Right
S - Sibling(s): 1 brother, Kevin. 1 sister, Katie.
T - Time you wake up: 7:15am
U - Underwear: Yes, I don't understand this question. What about underwear? UnderWHERE?
V - Vegetable favorite: Spinach.
W - Ways you run late: Daydreaming. Thinking "I can squeeze about 10 more minutes of sleep if I don't wash my hair today."
X - X-rays you’ve had: Just teeth. The whole-head xray is kinda cool.
Y - Yummy food you make: Pumpkin crunch dessert. Or white chocolate/strawberry shortbread cookies. (Which you would know if I'd responded to the desserts challenge on the BABB.)
Z - Zoo favorite: Otters. I need one. Right now.
A - Age: 37
B - Bed size: Queen, but it sure feels a lot smaller with two adults and two 25-30 lbs. dogs
C - Chore you hate: Most, but washing big pots & pans makes me hulk-angry
D - Don’t eat: pork chops. Spicy asian food. Calamari. Chicken wings. (But I like boneless ones, which are basically nuggets with wing sauce, let's face it.)
E - Essential start your day item: Coffee and sitting.
F - Favorite board game: I always like Trivial Pursuit, but not the fancy specialty ones that are all we have (gifts). I enjoy Cranium, as long as I don't have to do charades or hum or any of the performance ones.
G - Gold or Silver: Is copper a choice?
H - Height: 5’ 2
I - Instruments you play: Clarinet. Saxophone. Poorly.
J - Job title: Director of Development & Community Relations (how high-falutin')
K - Kid(s): None here, but I do have a 20 year old godson who is very cool.
L - Love or lust: Lusty love.
M - Mom’s name: Nan. Really Andrea, but her childhood nickname was Nan for some reason & it stuck.
N - Nicknames: Her. Hamchuck. (See the name of this blog.)
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Nope.
P - Pants or pantyhose: I'm not crazy about either, but definitely pants over pantyhose. Those are an evil invention designed to make women crazy. And drag queens.
Q - Favorite Movie Quote: "Gee Ricky, I'm sorry your mom blew up." Better Off Dead
R - Right or left handed: Right
S - Sibling(s): 1 brother, Kevin. 1 sister, Katie.
T - Time you wake up: 7:15am
U - Underwear: Yes, I don't understand this question. What about underwear? UnderWHERE?
V - Vegetable favorite: Spinach.
W - Ways you run late: Daydreaming. Thinking "I can squeeze about 10 more minutes of sleep if I don't wash my hair today."
X - X-rays you’ve had: Just teeth. The whole-head xray is kinda cool.
Y - Yummy food you make: Pumpkin crunch dessert. Or white chocolate/strawberry shortbread cookies. (Which you would know if I'd responded to the desserts challenge on the BABB.)
Z - Zoo favorite: Otters. I need one. Right now.
Friday, October 1, 2010
October BABB Show! Check out the spooky awesomeness!
We are the BAMF Art Blog Bunch a group of eleven artists from around the world and we have a group blog full of nonsense and creative fun at the BABB Blog.
We decided that for fall and October we would do a theme related to the illustrator-director-story teller Tim Burt0n. The entries below are all our seperate and creative takes on the theme and some of our relatives are also exhibiting, tres exciting, have a look!
Gary Rith
I have been fiddling with skulls on black pots for awhile. At one point, Kasey mentioned "teh goths rock teh black and red" and she was right, and I added red with the black, and another time kasey was like "OH! I love hearts and skulls!" and she is getting married and I made sure she got a teapot with hearts and skulls, but this week for this exhibit I wanted to take the idea a little further. I wanted a spirally teapot with a groovy handle, but then I was wondering if I could also paint on a spooky skull.....and I did :) These cups and teapot are available by emailing me at garyrith@yahoo.com and other items like them are already for sale at my etsy gallery.My name is Gary Rith and my blog is here. I can be reached at garyrith@yahoo.com and my website is http://www.garyrith.com/ and my etsy gallery is here.
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Becky Jo Brandow
It's kinda JACK-like. :)
I love a Nightmare Before Christmas.. Jack might be my favorite non-human character ever.. he's creepy, he can be nice, but mostly he's just a fun weirdo character. I wanted to get a little bit of Jack into my BABB Tim Burton*ish project, so I just planted him in the bottom of a Halloween colored bowl. This bowl is available in my Etsy Shop or you can see more photos, plus fun pottery stuff at my BLOG. If the bowl is already sold, I'm making a few more... you can contact me at RebeccaJDBrandow@yahoo.com if you just can't live without one. :)
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Jill Sneed Brown
Hi folks! Typically I am a portrait and wedding photographer, but I have this lovely image of my daughter. I picked it because it's kinda spooky looking with her running in the woods in a white dress.... like she's being chased by some spooky creature. With it's creepy yet whimsical feel - I thought it would be a perfect fit for the BABB Tim Burton-ish Show!
My website is Jill Brown Photography
My blog is Jill Brown Photography Blog
My Etsy
Kerry Barnes
I bring you...
Walter Scissorhands!
Why are you hiding back there? You don't have to hide from me - I'm Peg Boggs, your local Avon representative and I'm as harmless as cherry pie... Oh, my. What happened to you?
I'm not finished.
The years spent in isolation have not equipped him with the tools necessary to judge right from wrong. He's had no context. He's been completely without guidance. Furthermore, his work - the garden sculptures, hairstyles and so forth - indicate that he's a highly imaginative... uh... character. It seems clear that his awareness of what we call reality is radically underdeveloped.
Hold me!
I can't.
Stev0
When I think of Tim Burton, I think of a spooky atmosphere, but there also seems to be a story behind each image. The first image is from an abandoned Fort Williams in Maine.
The second image is from an interesting building at Cornell University. In the fall we have a lot of dreary cloudy days. This is an excellent time to capture a spooky mood with black and white.
Check out these photos, and other photos at my SmugMug site.
Stevo
Maureen Johnson
This piece is called "Oogie Boogie Blood and Guts Bowl". When thinking of Tim Burton and his wonderful animations mainly the "Night Before Christmas", which George and I adored what comes to mind is always the macabre . His creations always hold me spellbound even though they are at times gory and somewhat repulsive to the Max. The character I created was to represent his wonderful animated characters. This one met his match and wound up squished into a soup for a Monsters dinner.
It is made out of stoneware, fired to cone 6, the character is hand sculpted.
The soup consists of tomato soup, salsa, pasta, and provolone cheese cut into bones. MMM so delicious and rated four stars by ghouls, trolls, monsters everywhere
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Kasey Baker
Our entries. I decided to name it because that's what you do with FINE ART such as this. So, this is Creature in Love. When you're not really human, not really alive and not really anything found in nature you just sort of creep about in graveyards when you fall in love. I can't tell you why because I am a human most days.
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