|
 |
|
|
|
|
February 2004 ArchiveSunday, February 29, 200455 HoursWhat a lovely weekend I had! A great mix of plans and unplans. I clocked out at 5 pm on Friday, and toddled off to C & Darryn's housewarming. It was a very warm and lovely house full of good conversation. I was happy to see Shea and Kathleen were up from Champaign-Urbana. I had to abbreviate my visit there to head to Erik's performance at the Critical Mass show. His email only said "have a piece/performance at this show, friday about 9pm" plus address. I like cryptic invitations and am happier to know less about something rather than more. It was a show of bike art. I dug the modified bikes and a photo of a Dublin street that was very well composed. I was completely out of my element. I was wearing a skirt (not over pants), and I had no messenger bag or bike helmet. I can't believe the bike activists didn't boot me out. I didn't teach myself to ride a bike until I was 10. I hung out in an empty corner people watching until Erik showed up with a tool box, decked out in aviator gear. He fine tuned his inexplicable contraption - um, a bike thing where the back was fixed on a vertical axel. The front had two wheels perpendicular to a normal bike, and a long arm reaching out farther with a propeller attached. When he rode it, the gears and chains turned spinning the propeller. When he pedalled fast enough that the whole thing turned in a big, ominous circle. Ok, jeez, here's a pic:  Gretchen said she didn't want to stay in the corner. I said if something goes horribly awry, it'll be a great story of how I die. I told Rob and Gretchen some hopefully good news I'm hoping to announce here soon. On Saturday, I did my normal half-sleeping, half listening to NPR in the morning. I did a couple errands in the neighborhood - checking mail, getting a eBay purchase, buying fiberfill to finish two bolster pillows, going to Jim's to deliver two pairs of his pants I mended. Jim and Pat were giddy and much fun. I got home and did ________? I futzed around. Made plans to go to the Golden Horse Ranch Square Dance Band's Barn Dance Apocolypse at open-end with Anne. Oh, yeah, I researched some stuff for the hopeful good news thing. (Aincha intrigued?) Got sucked into a vortex of browsing. Took a perfect bath and then curled up to watch The Office on DVD. Clever show. The characters are spot on. Kinda snoozed. Got up and got ready for the Barn Dance. Ate two bowls of borscht. The Barn Dance was a lot of sound, a lot of people and a lot of fun. This is the band's first gig I could make since leaving, and it was (not surprisingly) different being on the other side of the equation. I'm not good with crowds, and I had a couple moments of ochlophobia with the packed house. Part wallflower, part square dancer. But the band has several new members and it was great to hear my favorites like Across the Alley from the Alamo, and Settin' the Woods on Fire. It should be known that I can cut quite a rug on my own, but I am truly retarded when it comes to dancing with a partner. Happily, Gail, Anne and my past-music-theory-classmate Mike were great partners. Mike's got a darn cool tradition - every year he visits a different state fair. Darn cool, eh? I was happy to hear that my beloved Minnesota State Fair is high on his list. Anne, Amy and I hit our barn dance saturation point at the same time. Amy bought us water to guzzle and Anne safely whisked us home. Today, I slept in late with a bit of a hangover from the barn dance. No alcohol was involved, just a mix of loudness, crowds, dehydration and foot stompin'. The weather was great today, so I threw open two windows. It got a lil' chilly, but the fresh air felt great. I talked to my sis. Poor sis had gotten really sick, but I'm happy she's on the road to recovery now. I went over to Jim's. We had a lovely lunch at McDonald's and went for a walk. Today's was perfect for going to McDonald's. Yes, there can be such a day. I came home and called my friend Mark - of the aforementioned OK Cupid post. Then the Oscars . While semi-watching, I cleaning up a bit, cleaned out my sewing box and started sewing a bunch of pinwheel blocks for yet another quilt project. Now I'm going to watch a DVD and sleeeeeeeep... G'night. posted on 2/29/2004 11:54:14 PM
posted on 2/29/2004 06:40:35 PM Friday, February 27, 2004Mindless Work, Good ListeningThis afternoon I was working on producing some screen shots for a site redesign client. Admittedly, I'm much happier with designs vs. redesigns and design work over production work. Making screen shots is pretty putzy and doesn't involve much problem solving (which is my favorite mental activity). So, I turn to NPR archives online to feed my brain as I do production work. Ever heard of Present At the Creation? I never had, and I happened across it today. Wowsa! Great series, great stories. Happily, the screenshots are done and I'm officially clocking out for the day! posted on 2/27/2004 05:02:52 PM Thursday, February 26, 2004Wet Books are Unhappy BooksToday, I headed downtown with a backpack full of library books and a water bottle. The bottle was leaky. Walking down the street, something felt wrong with my butt. I touched the backpack. Wet. Bad. I investigated and three of my five library books were ever so slightly wet. Only one corner each, but they were getting wrinkly. Durn it! I walked to the library, feeling awful. In my top five rules for life is "Treat libraries and library books well." I got to the circulation desk and confessed, "I'm returning these books and these three got wet in my backpack." Librarian, "Oh, that's not bad, they'll dry." Me: "But I love my library books and I hate to see them wet... but it is just water." Librarian: "Aww, they be fine. That's nothing." *whew* But I still felt like crying. I am such a square. No doubt working in the largest library in the third largest city in the U.S., I'm sure she's seen a lot worse. posted on 2/26/2004 11:00:25 PM Wednesday, February 25, 2004 Pink Fingers I'm making borscht. I love borscht. My first bowl of borscht was at Veselka in NYC. I was an instant convert. I went home and made The New Joy of Cooking's borscht recipe, sans beef. One of my parents must hate beets, because I never had them until that bowl of borscht about 5 years ago. Man, beets are vegetable candy. How do kids hate them? I get that they are a scary color, but they are so sweet! So I took this pic, because my finger tips are a bit calloused and cut up and I like how the beets stained them like a microscope slide. posted on 2/25/2004 11:48:46 AM Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler In honor of Fat Tuesday, please enjoy my Nola gallery from last year's birthday trip, which included a great sightseeing at Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World. posted on 2/24/2004 10:56:50 AM Monday, February 23, 2004 And Baby Makes Three My good friends Diane and Peter Durand are just starting to acclimate to their lovely baby girl, Lillian. Lilli was ready for this world and in a hurry. She was born on her due date, yesterday morning, after a quick 6 hours of labor. Diane thought she was going to have her in her bathroom! They sound all happy and well and I couldn't be happier for them. posted on 2/23/2004 10:19:00 PM Sunday, February 22, 2004Giddy Up!Tonight, I saw San Valentino and the Melancholy Kid Part 1, a rock-n-roll western by the House Theatre at the Viaduct Theater. If you're in Chicago, go. Get your tickets now. NOW. I heard about it from my friend Josh, who's playing bass and saw in the Trick Hearts, the show's band. I roped in my friend Anne F. to go. About a third of the way through, she whispered to me, "Thank you so much for asking me along." We had a blast. I laughed so hard I cried. My heartstring were plucked in the best possible way. I was such an inventive show that I felt lucky to have been witness to it. Yeah, you can go to their site to read more. There's plenty of reviews, and all positive, but I recommend that reserve your ticket and get yourself to the theater with only the information that it's a rock-n-roll western musical. It's on for two more weekends (through March 6). It's the first of a trilogy. You want to get in on this action. Go! posted on 2/22/2004 11:07:41 PM Saturday, February 21, 2004The Hardest Word Problem EverOver in the Art/Work blog, I started to talk about my entry for Bras for Breast Cancer. If you're a friend or client o' mine and you don't want to know details of my breasts, stop reading. Stop reading. As I stated over in Art/Work, I got my set at age 11 and they were big. I was reticent to wear a bra. I ha-ha-hated bra shopping because that meant going to JCPenny or some such place and comb through really awful bras in my size range. If I remember rightly, I started at 36C, then 36D and now 36DD. Here's the deal for the uninitiated/boys: The number is the measurements under the bust, around the rib change. The letter is the cup size which is the difference between that under bust measurement and the fuller part of the boobs. For my letter, my number is rather small. I.e. I'm stacked. I.e. bra shopping sux. In the vast majority of stores, my size doesn't exist, and if it does, it's on the far, far right of the rack (uh, no pun intended) when all of them look like grandmawear and are either bright white or bandaid colored. Yucko. Victoria's Secret sometimes had my 36D's, but there straps suck. Always falling off my shoulders. Gave me a shoulder complex. And what boggles my mind is how many bras in my range are padded. Huh? Yeah, just what I need. More boobage. The major bra revelation was Lane Bryant! Hooray for Lane Bryant! In their stores, I'm at the far left of the rack and bless them for realizing that the big ladies aren't colorblind to bras and want to wear more than bright white and bandaid. So, for quite awhile, I've been outfitted in lovely 36DD Lane Bryant bras. Therefore the hardest word problem in the universe is trying to figure out one's bra size. In the interest of science, I just went to about a dozen bra size calculators online. They said I wear: 42D, 42DD, 40DDD, 40F, 40G, 42H. Holy cup size, Batman. Very scientific. This site was the first to have a proper explanation of the magic calculation. Measure under my boobs + 5" for the number. So, 37 + 5 = 41". Since bras don't come in odd numbers and since I'm wearin' a 36, I'll round down to 40". Difference between underbust and that new measurement = 6" aka F. 40F. Huh. Anyhow, "they" say 70 to 90% of women wear the wrong bras size, but that's no wonder with such squirrley interpretations in size. And if I think too long about how frickin' subjective clothing sizes are, I'll give myself a headache. In general, ladies with no boobs pine for 'em, ladies with large ones bemoan them and the backpain. Other than envying the smaller chested ladies in their braless summer sundresses. Otherwise, I dig mine. We, my boobs and I, have got a good relationship going. Happily, it's extremely rare that my rack gets more eye contact than my eyes. That would bug the living shit out of me. I think it's a combo of not workin' the cleavage and sending out my yes-my-breast-are-large-but-that's-not-where-the-action-is vibe. Breasts are good, clothing them not so much. So, in the interest of creating a work of art for the Bras for Breast Cancer exhibit, I bought a doozy of a white cotton 36D to embellish at Sears yesterday. First time I've perused the boxed bras in years. Full figure workhorse (not my workhorse, thanks) for $11.42 on sale. posted on 2/21/2004 01:05:49 AM Thursday, February 19, 2004Ladies PokerLast night I played poker for the second time in my life. In 1994, folks tried to teach me in a mess hall next to an arctic lake in Alaska. Our efforts were soon thwarted by the need to rescue a few folks from pea-soup fog on the tundra. Intriguing, no? A little while ago, Krista sent me and a handful of ladies an email inviting us to start a Ladies Poker night. That is one of those invitations you simply have to accept.* Happily, Krista introduced us all to each other in email, as women she doesn't get to see often enough and wanted to start playing poker with. I met Krista in a class last year. A great first impression, but we hadn't spent much time together. So, it was especially neat to be invited to join in as somewhere between an acquaintance and friend. Sounded like cool ladies. And since I aspire to be a broad, but I don't smoke or drink, I better learn to play poker. It was much fun! We were late to start with lots of drink-making and gabbing, but Krista did corral us into learning Texas Hold 'em. It's been a long time since I've felt so befuddled and stupid - but it certainly helped that we all were pretty green at poker. And nobody was being terribly competitive. For me, games are more about getting together and gabbing and snacking around an activity, than the game itself and any competition. But by the end of the night, I started to get the hang of betting and the game. We played with a roll of quarters, dimes and nickels. After awhile I stopped worrying about the money and got into the game. The women were much fun and it was a good night. And I mixed my Virgin Marys and got about 14 servings of veggies. The most charming detail of the experience - the night before, Krista asked Brian to buy Green Rit Dye. She dyed a tablecloth dark green, for the proper poker backdrop! I look forward the next game! *Like "Brandy, would you like to play accordion in our square dance band?" posted on 2/19/2004 09:17:39 AM Wednesday, February 18, 2004
New Gallery Click here to see my new gallery in the Art/Work section of pics from Seattle last weekend. posted on 2/18/2004 01:35:20 PM Tuesday, February 17, 2004
A New Head Thingie! Here's the snazzy coif that my friend Anne Ford made me for my birthday! I got it in the mail today, and it's so soft and cozy. My head misses it when I take it off. And it accomodates my ponytails. So, the coif, or as Anne and I refer to it, the head thingie, was a pattern in the Spring 2003 issue of Knitty. It's designed by Megan Reardon of Not Martha. When I saw it, I asked a few friends to make me one. Anne offered. She said the first attempt wasn't right. Then I pretty much forgot about it until Anne would self-deprecatingly mention the not-forgotten head thingie. No biggie. Then between my birthday and my birthday party, Megan emailed me happy birthday wishes. At my party, Anne gave me a birthday card. In it, she had printed the picture of Megan wearing the coif. Having just heard from Megan, I thought it odd and for a split second thought, "They are in cahoots!" Then I remembered the previous coif negotiations. Anne said the second attempt was sized for a gerbil. My cheeks my be as round as a gerbil's, but I am much bigger. This third try was perfect! And I feel very special to get it before her hand doctor put her on a knitting hiatus to help her tendonitis. posted on 2/17/2004 11:51:45 PM Sunday, February 15, 2004There's No Place Like HomeI am safely home from Seattle and it's been a long, long time since I felt so good about coming home. I had went out to "help" Dawn move her cats via plane and set up her home. Help needs quotation marks because I was hoping to help her get cozy enough in her new place before she started work tomorrow. Instead I learned that we had entirely different ideas about nearly everything and at least 80% of mine were shot down. I can understand that the changes facing Dawn were big and hard, but I wasn't able to help in the slightest. Most of my attempts at positivity were slaughtered. After awhile I just stopped trying and waited out my time. I did help get the cats from point A to point B. I'm home. It's over. I thought Seattle was pretty cool. Not I-gotta-move-there cool, but worth exploring more cool. And I've chalked up this trip as a bad introduction to the city. But, but, but - The coolest thing was meeting Heather of LittleCabbage.com and Stace of Daymented.com! This was the first time I ever met an online friends in person. Stace and Sean had Dawn and I over, Heather and Sean cooked yum-tastic food! Dawn and I brought silly, pink Valentine sundae makings:  Much fun, fun conversation. I had a couple brief pangs of sadness that I wouldn't be able to gab with Stace and Heather like this more often. But then I nudged that aside and gabbed more.  A momentary pause in gabbing for picture taking. Dawn, Stace, Heather, Me 
Two ladies who laugh loud, like symmetry and matchy-matching and don't condone the word "panties." posted on 2/15/2004 10:24:00 PM Wednesday, February 11, 2004IncommunicadoTomorrow morning, I'm off to Seattle to help my friend Dawn transport her cats to her new home. I like to call it cat smuggling, but really it's on the up and up. And a cool thing - for the first tme I'll be meeting cyberspace Heather and Stace in the flesh! IRL, even. Since we'll be setting up her new home, we won't have internet access, so I'll be offline until Monday. *gasp* I feel withdrawl symptoms setting in... posted on 2/11/2004 11:08:18 PM Tuesday, February 10, 2004Meeting Max Calm. Squirm. Cry. Repeat. Here's Gwen and Dan's son Max, when he was three weeks old exactly. I got to meet him this weekend. Thursday night, all I could say was "he's so tiny!" I held him for awhile that night. I really think that's the last time I held a newborn (or any infant, really) since my sister was born in 1978. I don't have baby experience at all. So, I tried to stay calm when he cried. Dan and Gwen said in unison, "Sing to him." My mind went utterly blank. Finally, Dan said, "What's New Pussycat" even though he hates that song and knows I like it. Turns out, Max isn't a fan of the song either. But he did like being my dance partner and he calmed down. That and the magical properties of a pacifier. Such a well named object. Max is truly in the sleeping/eating/pooping mode. I observed the cycle: Max sleeps soundly; after awhile we goes through a cycle of squirming and pooping and sleep until the cycle shortens and his diaper is full enough that he just can't stand it; he wakes up with the siren. Gwen or Dan changes him; shortly after that, Gwen breastfeeds him. He may be awake a bit, but soon he's asleep again. I can totally understand why getting to take a shower feels like a small miracle to Gwen. And it's very neat to watch him watch things when he's awake and alert. Dan and Gwen were sticking their tongues out at him. He would watch intently and try to mimic them. You could already see the wheels turning in that tiny noggin. My Champaign-Urbana visit was delightful. Saturday night, Josh and Jen brought over sushi and Shea and Kathleen brought over gelato for the C-U outpost of my birthday. That was much fun. and Shea is keeping his title as Duke of Frozen Desserts (in the same court of the Dairy Queen). Two gelatos: pear and brie and chocolate toffee. Don't wince at the pear and brie - it wsa absolutely fantastic! Also, it was great to visit with Gwen's parents Mardee and Ray who were down for grandson time. On Sunday, I was in the care of Shea and Kathleen. Happily, Yana came over to visit. Shea fed us good breakfast and I redyed Kathleen's two-toned hairdo. Always good times in Shampoo-Banana. posted on 2/10/2004 01:01:34 AM Thursday, February 05, 2004There's loads and loads to blog about - but I am miuntes away from leaving the apartment to hed to a train to head to Champaign-Urbana to meet my "nephew" Max and meet friends. Some client work done, plenty more to do. Feeling very overwhelmed.I'll send the full report when I can! posted on 2/5/2004 01:46:40 PM Monday, February 02, 2004SnowglobeI've certainly gotten some lovely snowglobe scenes so far this winter from my 12th floor apartment. It helps to be wrapped up in cozy things and listening to good music. Currently, The Cardigan's Life. posted on 2/2/2004 02:32:59 PM Sunday, February 01, 2004Birthday
Extroversion
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
