might I add ... ?

in which I state that I am philosophically opposed to changing the clocks

2010-03-14T21:09:00.002-04:00

but I do like having light later at night. It makes me feel like bedtime doesn't come at 5pm. However, I most certainly do NOT like getting up in the pitch dark again. Alas! No one asks my opinion about these things.

see, my tulips really grew last year!

2010-03-12T16:52:00.003-05:00

In the photo at left, you can see where one flower has been plucked (no, no, no!), but I did get a few photos before all the flowers disappeared.

No kidding... the Irish Spring works. It smells kind of strong, so my guess is the deer don't want to eat anywhere near it. Smart choice. Or maybe they just remembered that I was sprinkling them with chili the year before...? Probably not, as that didn't actually seem to deter them.

my gardening secret

2010-03-10T21:33:00.005-05:00

So I noticed that Jen is posting over on the edge about needing a deer-proof fence. And I feel so guilty about not coming forward earlier with this info, that I'm staying up late to post it finally now.

Yes, I seem to have th

e secret to keeping deer from eating everything in my yard. And it's relatively non-toxic (at least I assume so). And cheap. And only mildly labor-intensive.

And here's the proof: the first fall I lived in this house, I planted a bazillion bulbs

, because I love spring flowers, and I loved knowing that the ground was mine to plant however many flowers I had the energy to plant.

Fast-forward to the spring, and I was so excited to see things start to pop up out of the ground. I even started taking pictures of all the lovely bits of greenery coming up. One morn

ing, on my way out to the car, I noticed some bits of green on the ground, and as I was trying to figure out what kind of plant that was exactly, I realized it was my lovely tulips which were a couple of inches high the day before, now eaten all the way to the ground. Hmmmph. One very not-happy camper. Similar things kept happening. All the tulips disappeared. One after the other.

The daffodils survived, I learned later, because they are toxic to animals.

The next spring, I got desperate to have some tulips. I tried sprinkling the leaves with chili powder. That may have worked for a bit, but chili powder washes off with the slightest rain. Eventually, the deer feasted. And yes, we definitely have deer. I have surprised a deer in our yard one evening as I was dump

ing the compost in the bin, coming within maybe five feet of a deer before I heard it and we startled each other.

Later that summer, a neighbor suggested her trick, which I completely pooh-poohed. Something so simple couldn't possibly work, could it? If I could remember it long enough, I decided I would try it.

The secret: Irish Spring soap. Evidently, deer don't like the smell. It is pretty strong. But you can see from the photos above, that my tulips didn't get eaten to the ground. And yes, they actually bloomed last year. However, if anyone has advice about keeping little boys from pulling the blooms off, all the while saying "No, no, no!" I'd love to hear it.

Jen, I'm sorry it took me so long to post this... but I hope you find it helpful. I buy the stuff in bulk now.

2009-12-20T11:28:00.003-05:00

Spent yesterday in urgent care, then with the ophthamologist. Really severe eye pain, like someone was stabbing me in the eyeball. So I spent the rest of the day hanging out in the dark feeling miserable.

This morning I wake to find my computer doesn't work. Well, maybe it works fine, but the screen is black. Nada. Lovely.

What a weekend. No idea what I'm going to do at work tomorrow.

life has kept me away

2009-12-12T12:46:00.008-05:00

So, not a single post all summer, all fall, and here we are heading into winter. Work is keeping me exhausted, and really, that's all I want to say about that for now. I'm barely able to keep up with reading my favorite blogs, along with a couple of comments a month or so, even though I keep flagging the posts I want to respond to in my email (love RSS feeds, in case I haven't already said that a dozen times or so).

I'm embarrassed that I never posted my "big experiment" pictures, but I'm sure they're on my computer somewhere. I'll just say for now, that they have to do with gardening and deer, and the results will be worth the wait if you have deer munching away on your tulips!

I finally got sucked into Facebook, and my feelings are mixed. In some ways, I love it, and in others... not so much.

Getting ready for a big family party this afternoon and, quite honestly, I'm really not in the mood. I really want to have a day to sit in my pajamas all day long, on the sofa with a good book, and just take it easy. Alas.

Before the party, I had been wanting to:

bake some cookies... that's not going to happen

get my hair cut... yeah, right!

make up some really fantastic gift bags for family members (well, I'm working on it, but as the time goes on, maybe the "really fantastic" part might end up being an exaggeration)

get about 10 or 500 loads of laundry done (well, I'm down 2 or 3)

Why does this party have to come so early this year??? Ugh! My guess is that some members of the family will be travelling, so this was the best weekend for them. I need another week's reprieve! This was a particularly difficult week at work, with me working into the wee hours several nights. I am a lump right now.

Maybe I'll take a few minutes of my wee one's nap time to post some comments. For anyone who's still reading... thanks for hanging in there all these long, warm months!

thanks to dee, here's a quick update

2009-06-18T21:24:00.006-04:00

No, no, don't worry, I haven't given up the ghost. Just fighting off the constant weariness that comes with the end of the school year. So much to do and so little time... you know the deal. I've been fighting on several fronts: technology that has been kicking my bum, being a bit under the weather (but not the flu, thank you very much), family issues, and trying to bite off more than I can chew at work, thus working late and coming home ready to sleep.

Oh no, I sound like I'm complaining.

Really, things could be much worse, so I don't mean to complain. I'm just tired to the bone, and I have commitments until basically the Fourth. Ah, sweet Independence Day, I am looking forward to it. OK, the Third, I shall be free on the Third of July.

So. Tired.

And I don't mean to keep ~~you all~~ dee in suspense for so long... I do fully plan to write the post about what was up in the garden. Just as soon as I get my pics off my husband's computer. (Oooh, a post with pictures! Really, it will be worth the wait.)

I'm reading those of you who are posting, but there's no time for commenting. I'm very appreciative, however, of the short stolen moments I get to enjoy reading!!

an experiment

2009-04-28T22:26:00.004-04:00

I promise I'll post about it later, when I have the time to upload the pics to go with, but I've been working on an experiment for the past month? six weeks? I'm not sure, but the results are in!!

And if I do say so myself, I am impressed!

I will say it happened in the garden, and it has to do with deer and survival of the greens!

sweet

2009-04-21T09:46:00.003-04:00

The video I originally put up here was taken down, so here it is from the source. Enjoy.

being green pays off

2009-04-01T06:00:00.002-04:00

I have always wondered how this whole recycling thing works. This is a very cool animation that explains the whole RecycleBank process (one of the processes, which allows mixing recyclables). Brought to my attention by Sustainable Dave (he's cool, check him out!).

Plus, evidently, you can rack up points by recycling. Which I'm probably not going to do (rack up points, that is, not recycle), as I don't think this program exists in my area. :-( And even if it did, it sounds like you have to sign up for trash pickup in order to do this. We go to the dump. Which is fine. And getting points wouldn't make me recycle more, although who knows... maybe I'd be more assiduous about finding out how many more of those things that we have are actually recyclable.

Anyway, if you live in parts of: VA, MA, MN, PA, NE, CT you may have access to this program. (Sorry, I really have no idea if something similar is available in Canada. But if any Canadians want to suggest something, I'd love to hear it.)

One of the things that I thought was really super-cool was that they developed a program for universities to encourage students to recycle, where they have kiosks on campus, you have a little passcard (like those FastPass?? things at the Mobil station) to get credit for your recycling efforts. You rack up points and redeem them. Evidently, they also have kiosks in some cities for people who live in apartments. Hmm.

One thing that I thought was a little annoying about this video is that they show Ikea as one of their rewards partners, but I couldn't find anything about Ikea on their website. Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm obsessed with all-things-Ikea, but still, I expected to find them on their list. Maybe they just left the program, but then that makes me wonder why....

P.S. I don't think this is an April Fool's thing. But I have been told that gullible isn't in the dictionary before. Does anyone have any experience with this company?

why so much pink?

2009-03-31T15:24:00.005-04:00

I see lots of toys in the stores that my son would like, either now or sometime in the future (I think). What I want to know is why does everything having to do with kitchen or houses have to be so pink??

For example:

This toy is actually labelled as a "girl toy." Don't get me wrong. I'm all for girls being (gourmet) chefs, doctors, lawyers, presidents, CEOs and all that other fun stuff. Hey, mechanics, software engineers, garbage collectors, nurses and teachers, too.

But don't manufacturers basically leave out half of the potential market with this kind of stuff? Will girls refuse to play with non-pink toys? Do girls think it must be a "boys' toy" if it's not pink and/or labelled as "for girls"?

I'm not philosophically opposed to giving pink toys to boys either, it's just that I don't really want all the traditionally "feminine" things to be all pink. Anything to do with babies, cooking, houses. Maybe they are available online in non-pink, but in the stores (at least the stores I've been in lately), no such luck.

There are a lot of toys that I loved as a child, and now that I'm searching for them, it appears to be hard to find them in "non-Barbie colors."

Whatever happened to primary colors?

things that make me cranky

2009-03-29T17:20:00.005-04:00

Middle-aged man who asks me (while volunteering at a registration desk for an event... not the first aid desk) to help him put a Band-Aid® on his finger which currently has a tissue rubber-banded on. Reluctantly, I agree to help. Then, he proceeds to ask me to throw away his bloodied tissue. Uh. No. I ask him to kindly come around and throw the tissue away in the trash can. This man, who is not a teen Michael Jordan-wannabe, proceeds to try to do a free shot for the trash can. And, surprise! surprise!, doesn't make it. Then, he expects me to pick up the tissue from the ground and throw it away. Uh. Double-N.O. Spells "NO." I didn't want to touch your tissue in the first place. I certainly don't want to walk across the room, bend over, and pick up your tissue because you are too childish to just throw the thing away in the first place.

Note to clueless people: Don't expect a stranger to want to deal with your bodily fluids (even if dried), and especially don't expect said stranger to want to pick up your dirty tissues because a) you don't want to be bothered or b) you're too adolescent to just throw it away and want to make it into a game. DO expect me to give you my best teacher glare.

watch at your own risk

2009-03-25T22:31:00.004-04:00

I found this (via Realigned Rain) truly frightening. I mean, I knew this existed, but....

The thing is that she looks so ... ordinary, blah, whatever at the beginning. If I saw her on the bus, I wouldn't even look twice. She looks like someone who doesn't really care much about her appearance. And after she's "made up," she looks traditionally "pretty," OK. But they have to photoshop her to make her even "better."

I feel sick.

anatomy of a headache

2009-03-23T21:25:00.005-04:00

I have a very strange headache that is kind of coming and going on one side of my head only. It started maybe forty-five minutes ago. Very strange. I was reading some books to my son, and poof, all of a sudden, I feel a pain in my temple. (Poof would actually be better to describe it disappearing, yes, but whatever, my head hurts!) Now I'm sitting up, in front of the computer (duh), and it's continuing. It's weird because I'm so aware of it, how it comes, and then it's gone. It's not a sharp, stabbing pain, but it's definitely there. And now, I feel it on the other side of my head, too, but in my forehead.

Anyway, I took some Advil a while ago, because I was having a pain in my leg (yes, I'm falling apart, evidently), so hopefully this thing will be gone lickety-split.

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (and some other stuff)

2009-03-22T09:07:00.000-04:00

In case you're out of the loop (the way I usually am), here's the scoop about the Obamas' new vegetable garden. Here's the layout of the new vegetable garden at the White House. Yum. I want to eat there. Aside: Except the rhubarb part. I'm still convinced that that stuff is poisonous. My mom told me repeatedly not to touch it when I was a kid (I guess the leaves are toxic or something?), and I'm still listening to her. Of course, you know, when she offered me some of that rhubarb pie she made, I wouldn't touch that either: I mean, come on, she just said it was poisonous. (Yes, I'm still six. Logic will not rule in this instance.) They were pretty smart to put the mint in a patch by itself. That stuff will take over otherwise.

And I'm a bit jealous. I really want to have a real garden here. I get paralyzed by all the choices and by the lack of choices.

Did you know that...

2009-03-21T23:26:00.003-04:00

there is "an international expert on falling bullets" at Stanford University?

I found this hard to believe, but I just heard this as they were introducing him on Myth busters.

that fascinating organ

2009-03-21T22:29:00.004-04:00

Evidently, there's some new brain research (dee, did you read about this?). They (the proverbial "they") have mapped the brains of a bunch of twins as they were... thinking. Here's one picture of the "strings" connecting different parts of the brain as they get connected via the thought process.

Some researchers from UCLA did a study using a bunch of twins, some identical and some fraternal, in order to test how much of brain speed is due to genetics. I read about it here, on NPR's website. What I don't understand is how do they factor in the environmental impact?

if I can just stop my eyes from tearing for a few seconds...

2009-03-17T22:49:00.004-04:00

I could tell you about someone I just met. Or want to meet. Or at least enjoy reading her blog.

Via dee, I just spent the past 45 minutes (OK, not quite that long, because I was going up and down stairs to do more laundry during this same time period, but anyway, back to the point) reading mimi smartypants' last few entries.

The first entry, I was intrigued, partly because of her take on kindergartners, and partly because of her location (ah, nostalgia... oh right, back to the point). Then I started going back to read a bit more, and I thought I would wake the baby, my snoring husband, and all the neighbors with my laughter. It's been a while since I've laughed so hard. The first 2 paragraphs cracked me up. (Thank you, Mimi. Can I call you "Mimi"? I hope that's not too forward of me....) I think I need to add someone to my Blog Roll (if I can remember how).

and the letter is...

2009-03-15T23:26:00.005-04:00

I got this meme from Jen on the Edge. Name 10 things I like, all beginning with the letter she assigned me: H. I think this is the first time I've been given something so specific to work with, so here goes.

hibernating OK, I haven't actually hibernated yet, but right now, on a Sunday night, I'd really like to hibernate and not go in to work tomorrow morning. Where did the weekend go?
hippos They look like such gentle creatures, although I've heard that they're not. Whatever. They're still cute.
hiver Yeah, I got stuck, and so if you don't speak French, it means "winter," which I really do ~~like~~ love, although I'm getting a little tired of it right now. Unless of course, we can have a snow day tomorrow....?
Hungry Caterpillar, The Very That little guy (girl in French!) is so cute, and I love reading it (over and over and over).
heating with wood I lived in a house once that had a woodstove as its primary heat, and I loved the whole process: chopping and stacking the wood, carrying it into the house, starting a fire, and enjoying that wonderful heat. And waking up in the morning in a 50-degree house.
holidays Especially three-day weekends. Four-day weeks are so civilized. (How many do I have now?
hips that don't hurt Self-explanatory. H is hard! (Did Jen give me a hard letter on purpose?) Of course, if this meme were of things I liked, I could have said Hart to Hart. (Uh-oh, I think I'm dating myself.) I thought of this because I see Remington Steele on the TV playing James Bond.
honesty (tempered with kindness)
hot coffee in the morning, especially when prepared just the way I like it and served to me in bed... aah, the good old days
huddling under a warm down comforter with my sweetie(s)... time to do that right now

Good night all!

did you hear what I heard?

2009-03-14T17:40:00.001-04:00

I heard a story on the radio the other day about an idea to change how we get taxed on gas usage. Here's the idea: instead of a specific percentage tax on gasoline, which is what happens now, s. ome folks want to install little thingamabobbies into cars. These thingies would measure the number of miles you drive, somehow send the info to a newly-created state agency, which would then bill you for the number of miles you actually drive. (Feel free to listen to the story, as I may have confused some of the info. You know, not enough sleep and such....) Basically, though, that's how it would work.

This story infuriates me.

Right now, we have a system that taxes the amount of gas you use. Maybe you use a gallon or two to run the lawnmower or snowblower, maybe you fill up the tank of your car to drive around town or across the country. This system is pretty efficient, in that it is already in place, it is straightforward, and it gets collected at the point of purchase. You buy your gas, you're done paying that tax.

But there are people who want every car to have a thingy installed (this is going to be expensive for someone, although I guess if you own a thingy-producing factory or if you're the person who invented and patented the thingy, you'll win big), and in fact, get all the new cars (what new cars?) to install them in the factory. And then they'll have to create a brand-new state agency in every state(where are all the folks who think we should have smaller government now?) in order to oversee all this and collect the taxes from individuals instead of from gas stations.

And on top of it, as I understand it, you'll be taxed the same per mile, regardless of whether you're driving a super-efficient car or a Hummer. As far as I'm concerned, this is a no-brainer. Who are the people who sit around and come up with such super-contrived utter nonsense? Do they actually get paid? Do they have any jobs available in their departments? Although, to be honest, I'm not sure I have such dumb ideas to share.

Ugh.

things I haven't gotten sucked into yet

2009-03-12T22:14:00.004-04:00

In no particular order....

The Sopranos
Survivor
Twittering
macrobiotic diets
Pilates
HDTV
TiVo
football
rap music
clothes that bare my midriff

gotta love Apple

2009-03-10T17:25:00.003-04:00

I've been trying out the new version of Safari for the past couple of weeks, and *I love it!*

They have a beta version out... for both Mac and PCs, so you PC-users can't get all grumpy about not being able to be in on the next cool thing. And best of all... you can download it for free!

So here are a couple of the things that I think are really cool (maybe flashy, but hey, they are cool!):

When you open up Safari, it opens all your "top sites" (the ones you visit most often?) in the background, and you can see them in this really cool gallery.

Then you can just click on the site you want to open.

Supposedly, you can also view your bookmarks this way. I haven't had time (surprised?) to try this out yet. (Or many of the 150 features.)

Anyway, I'm sold.

I think I've posted this before, but here it is again:

beauty

2009-03-09T17:06:00.003-04:00

So I was fascinated by this video of a potter decorating a piece with slip. It says it's 8 minutes long, but I didn't see anything after 4 minutes.

It's not at all the kind of ceramic work I used to do, or even the kind of stuff I'm normally attracted to, but I saw something of hers on etsy that I thought was beautiful, and I found the video on her website. If you happen to look at the etsy site, my favorite photo is the one of the bowl upside-down. I love the fact that the pattern continues on the bottom, even though almost no one looking at it would see that.

The potter's name is Grace Sheese.

need a laugh?

2009-03-08T15:58:00.002-04:00

Honestly, it took me a while to figure this one out, but here goes:

Here's a close-up, for those of you who can't quite make this out:

Let me know if this made you chuckle. (Maybe I just have a weird sense of humor?)

I must have been living in the Dark Ages

2009-03-07T17:19:00.003-05:00

I finally figured out how to do these scheduled posts. I had heard about it, but I hadn't put any effort into trying to find the thing. (And it kind of feels like cheating, you know?) So anyway, now I can be all bloggy like the rest of you! Hah. So there.

I'm taking advantage of toddler napping time to create a (few) post(s) here instead of

picking up all the toys
starting a load of laundry
thinking about what ~~I'm going to make for dinner~~ hubby is going to make for dinner
reading a good book (what's a book?)

(Sound of sick baby stirring and then crying.) Right, that's why I'm not doing all those things.

an old favorite

2009-03-06T22:10:00.003-05:00

I don't know why, but I never get tired of this book:

As a youngster, I loved this story, mainly the part with the dogs all heading for the tree. What is up on top of that tree, anyway? Oh, the anticipation!! I also loved the page with all the dogs asleep, except for one. (What I realize now is that maybe that little dog is asleep, too, just with eyes wide open.... A little scary, but whatever.)

I've been reading it again (a lot) the past 8-12 months, give or take. Mostly because I enjoy it, and it's long enough to be reading for a while. And my little one seems to be fascinated by (the idea of) dogs.

I've been noticing lately that the dogs with hats:

"Do you like my hat?"
"I do not."
"Goodbye."
"Goodbye."

really provide some comic relief and break up the reading and tie it all together at the same time. Clever.

And I still love that dog party! What a cool dog party! And what's up with that dog that's sleeping up there in the tree in the middle of the party??

excuses, excuses

2009-03-05T21:50:00.002-05:00

OK, so I have my reasons. I feel like I've been sick since Valentine's Day (is that possible? maybe not quite that long, but almost). I also have a terrible tendency to bite off these huge chunks and then wonder why I feel like I don't have enough time to sleep. Working full time, having a toddler (who's been sick, too), trying to keep up with the laundry and myriad of other chores, taking a couple of (real) classes and one that's "just for fun," teaching a class. Nuts! That's right.

Oh, that's why I don't have time to go work out.

I'd like to sign on paper

2009-03-03T20:36:00.007-05:00

Am I the only person left in the entire universe who doesn't trust those machines that every store (seemingly) asks you to put your signature into? Or, I suppose more to the point, doesn't trust the people who hack into those machines in order to steal your money, identity, and soul....

Every time I go into those stores that have a "please sign on the machine" policy, I politely say, "I'd like to sign on paper." Their eyes glazed over, they point to the machine and say, "You need to sign there." "No, no," I say politely again, "I'd like to sign on paper." They insist (usually) that I must sign on the machine. I insist that I want to sign on a piece of paper.

Sometimes they call for a manager. If it's a store that I shop in often enough, I usually learn the key combination they need to press. Occasionally, after I insist, they go ahead and print the receipt for me to sign as if they knew all along how to do it.

And sometimes, they will ask why I won't just sign on the machine. So I explain:
-you know how there are people that hack into stores' info in order to steal credit card info and stuff?
-well, imagine that they steal not only the credit card info, but also steal your signature
-now, they can put that signature on anything, and how on earth could you prove it wasn't your signature?

PS Thanks to Peevish for kicking my butt, even though she probably has no idea, because as I read her post, I knew I was off that blogroll of hers. Yes, indeed, I have been out of commission for longer than I thought possible.

not what I should be doing or what I really want to be doing, but...

2008-11-25T22:47:00.006-05:00

Here are a couple of photos I've been wanting to share.

First, a product that I am enchanted by:

The Pillsbury Doughboy was a favorite from my early years. Evidently, I would sit in my playpen and wait for the dude to show up on TV and giggle. So cute. And I think Pillsbury commercials were a lot more common back then, at least during daytime TV. And parathas... yum! Maybe I should try these. Somehow, I have a hard time imagining Pillsbury making Indian food. Is it just me?

And something that freaks me out a bit:

Partially because of the idea of having to clean this thing up, but also the fact that they tell you on the front of the box that you can add pizzazz to every meal. I feel overwhelmed just thinking of having to make these things for every meal. I think I'll pass, thanks anyway.

hi, bloggers! yup, I'm still here--well, sort of

2008-11-10T18:08:00.007-05:00

So, where to start?

First, sorry, bloglanders, I haven't been keeping up-to-date with your doings. I've got a lot of you on my RSS feed in my email program (I really do love Macs!), which is great, because I don't have to keep checking the web to see if you've posted. Which means... I have no idea what you've been twittering.

But what that also means is that I can see how many of your posts I haven't read. If you are, like me, probably overwhelmed with life, then I've probably read everything you've posted. Dee, thanks for reaching out the other day! Not that I can find your email now, but I appreciated it. And thanks to Facebook, I guess, your feed is clear. There's no little number next to your account that keeps pestering me that I haven't read you. So when I see a little number 1 next to your name, I can get all excited and be like, "Oh wow, dee posted, I need to read this." (OK, I originally wrote this two weeks ago, and in October, dee was all like me, not posting or anything, but now that we have NaNoNaNoBloPoMoJo thingy going on, dee's posting every day. And, OK, yeah, I'm still caught up on her posts, because I gravitate to that little number "1" in my RSS feed.)

For now, the only folks I'm caught up with are dee, the kilowatt hour, Petite Anglaise, Kitty Cafe (I love that name! and sorry, I can't remember if you're "out" about your name, so I'm keeping you undercover), and Jo over at Counting Sheep. My guess is that they're just as ~~overwhelmed~~ busy as I am. I read all of Peevish's new incoming posts, but I seem to have skimmed over a few somewhere, so a sad little "3" sits by her name.

I was a lurker over on blackbird's blog for probably more than a year before she did the delurking thing that encouraged me to start blogging in the first place. But I'm way behind, and she has a "32" next to her name. Now, my life is ~~out of control~~ busy, so there's no way I'm going to read all those Survivor posts, even though I used to read them and everything else she wrote religiously, even though I've never seen a single episode of Survivor in my life.

And then there's Pumpkin over at My ~~French~~ Swiss window who is a diligent poster. During the summer I was pretty much up-to-date with her doings, but now I'm really over my head, and the number ~~"101"~~ 97 (hey, I'm catching up!) is next to her name in the RSS feed. Pumpkin, I want to know what's up and when your daughter is coming, but that huge number is a huge deterrent for me right now. Occasionally I click on one of her posts and look at the lovely photos and read what she's up to, but honestly, it doesn't happen very often now.

Another blog I had been keeping up with since January has been Dave over at 365 Days of Trash and now his number is up to "142." Sorry, Dave, I have no idea what kind of trash is in your basement right now. I do occasionally read a post that has an interesting title, but I can't deal with all the details right now.

And then there's Jen on the Edge, who I think is interesting, and I was reading her posts pretty regularly over the summer, but she is just too damn prolific for my school-year schedule. I really can't deal with the "185" in the RSS feed, and it keeps getting larger. I want to know what's up with her house and the kids and all the cool stuff over in Jenworld, but really, I just can't overcome that huge number.

I already deleted the Yarn Harlot from the feed, as she, too, was too prolific for me. And I really enjoy her writing, too. I actually found out about her through one of her books (yeah, she's a pro!), but her posts are many and long. I can't even tell you how many hundreds of posts there were for me to catch up on, even during the summer, and so I couldn't take it anymore one afternoon, and I deleted her. She's still on my blogroll, though. That much I can deal with, although I don't look at my own blog too often. Just too boring, I mean, I almost never post!

And yes, if you've made it this far, it's my birthday!

Finally!

2008-11-04T23:41:00.003-05:00

I sit here with tears of joy in my eyes. I have finally voted for someone who won the presidential race.

what to do with that extra paper

2008-08-31T18:11:00.002-04:00

Found via Swiss Miss.

maybe, just to be on the safe side

2008-08-19T23:35:00.004-04:00

So I was reading dee's scary/funny story (scary because... well, it's scary, go read it, and funny because dee is really good at making scary stories pretty damn funny, go read it already) about saving her kid's life while a bunch of strangers just pretended not to hear them, and here I am.

You know, a refresher CPR course is not a bad idea. I ~~was forced to take~~ took a class in high school, then took one when I was pregnant. But do I remember anything? Hmm. How many seconds to do any of the multitude of steps? (which they had the gall to change on me in the intervening years) Yes, a refresher course. That is, if I remember to sign up for one.

Fu of the week

2008-07-01T22:13:00.002-04:00

Hey, don't ask me what "fu of the week" means, but I thought this was pretty cool. Sustainable Dave is pretty cool, if you ask me.

goofing off with US geography

2008-06-21T18:04:00.002-04:00

In 2m 30s

Click here to Play

why I'm voting Republican

2008-06-12T20:36:00.001-04:00

Watch it and you'll understand.

bonjour iPhone

2008-06-08T13:46:00.005-04:00

Evidently, the iPhone has been release in France, and for 100€, you can get it unlocked and be able to use it with any company. That's a sweet deal.

new look

2008-06-07T23:17:00.006-04:00

Just a quick update to say that I chose a new template because with the addition of my new Blogroll (ta-da!), it looked too crowded. I wanted something that I could use the larger window for. I didn't spend a lot of time choosing it, so I may choose something else soon. But I really like the new Blogroll feature (another plug). It allows for a snippet of each newest blog entry, plus you can choose to have them show up in order of the most recent update. I think it's a cool feature, although I had a hard time getting it to work at first. No idea why.

UPDATE: UGGHHH! it's not working again. Grr.

movie meme

2008-05-26T16:53:00.007-04:00

The list as taken from the IMDB. Movies I've seen in bold. (I added in italics for movies I think I've seen, but don't quite have the brainspace to remember right now.)

#1. Godfather, The (1972)
#2. Shawshank Redemption, The (1994)
#3. Godfather: Part II, The (1974)
#4. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003)
#5. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002)
#6. Schindler's List (1993)
#7. Shichinin no samurai (1954)
#8. Casablanca (1942)
#9. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)
#10. Star Wars (1977)
#11. Citizen Kane (1941)
#12. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
#13. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
#14. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
#15. Rear Window (1954)
#16. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
#17. Pulp Fiction (1994)
#18. Usual Suspects, The (1995)
#19. Memento (2000) sounds very familiar
#20. North by Northwest (1959)
#21. 12 Angry Men (1957)
#22. Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966)
#23. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
#24. Psycho (1960)
#25. Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le (2001) loved it
#26. Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
#27. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
#28. Goodfellas (1990)
#29. American Beauty (1999)
#30. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
#31. Vertigo (1958)
#32. Matrix, The (1999)
#33. Cidade de Deus (2002)
#34. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)- but I did read the book
#35. C'era una volta il West (1968)
#36. Apocalypse Now (1979)
#37. Pianist, The (2002)
#38. Third Man, The (1949)
#39. Paths of Glory (1957)
#40. Taxi Driver (1976)
#41. Fight Club (1999)
#42. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
#43. Some Like It Hot (1959)
#44. Double Indemnity (1944)
#45. Boot, Das (1981)
#46. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)- I wanted to see this one, but I can't remember why
#47. Singin' in the Rain (1952) on TV?
#48. Chinatown (1974)
#49. L.A. Confidential (1997)
#50. Maltese Falcon, The (1941)
#51. Requiem for a Dream (2000) - this one sounds familiar, too. hmm, maybe I need to look these up?
#52. All About Eve (1950)
#53. M (1931)
#54. Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957)
#55. Se7en (1995)
#56. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
#57. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
#58. Rashômon (1950)
#59. Raging Bull (1980)
#60. Wizard of Oz, The (1939) has anyone in N.America not seen this movie?
#61. Alien (1979)
#62. American History X (1998)
#63. Sting, The (1973) I think I've only seen part of it
#64. Léon (1994)
#65. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
#66. Manchurian Candidate, The (1962)
#67. Vita è bella, La (1997)
#68. Touch of Evil (1958)
#69. Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948)
#70. Finding Nemo (2003)
#71. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
#72. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
#73. Great Escape, The (1963)
#74. Modern Times (1936)
#75. Clockwork Orange, A (1971)
#76. Amadeus (1984)
#77. On the Waterfront (1954)
#78. Ran (1985)
#79. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
#80. Annie Hall (1977)
#81. Wo hu cang long (2000)
#82. Jaws (1975)
#83. Apartment, The (1960)
#84. Braveheart (1995)
#85. High Noon (1952)
#86. Aliens (1986)
#87. Fargo (1996)
#88. Strangers on a Train (1951)
#89. Shining, The (1980)
#90. Metropolis (1927)
#91. Blade Runner (1982)
#92. Sixth Sense, The (1999) I think I saw one of the Scream movies which had a take-off on this movie...does that count?
#93. City Lights (1931)
#94. Donnie Darko (2001)
#95. Duck Soup (1933)
#96. Great Dictator, The (1940)
#97. General, The (1927)
#98. Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957)
#99. Princess Bride, The (1987)
#100. Dogville (2003)

I got this one from Peevish, thanks!!

feeling a bit emotional over here

2008-05-19T23:06:00.003-04:00

(Sniff, sniff.) I had a hard day today, and by late afternoon I was really ready to cry. I came home, we went for a short walk, and I felt better. But now, again, I'm feeling a bit weepy. I guess I really should be getting to bed, but I just wanted to say Thanks! to Stephanie aka Yarn Harlot for speaking her mind about women with little ones being seen/heard in public.

Really... why is this so hard?

I need some advice (household stuff)

2008-05-10T17:08:00.003-04:00

Can anyone out there recommend a decent dish drainer thingy that catches the water?

Here's my dilemma:
I have one of those old fashioned types of dish drainers. Rubbermaid stuff, you know?

I've tried a couple of the more modern, stylish ones, but there's always something I don't like about them. So, I go back to the old kind that we always had when I was growing up.

So here's the dilemma part. Rubbermaid makes an OK piece to hold the dishes, but the part that collects the water is made from such flimsy plastic these days that the edges bend down, causing the water to drip off onto the counter. Which annoys me.

Here's what I want in a dish drainer:
-big and sturdy enough to hold lots of dishes, especially pots and pans
-the water collector can drain into the sink (maybe I should be flexible about this one?)
-little thingies to hold the glasses outside of the rack
-a silverware holder
-must have a tray, as it has to go on the counter, as I don't have a double sink (still the original kitchen, yes, it needs to be remodeled, but not going to happen soon...)

I'm not crazy about Rubbermaid much at all anymore, anyway. Call me weird, but I also don't like all this "Microban" stuff that everyone is putting into every product nowadays. I don't understand why I would need something to kill bacteria on my dish drainer tray. I mean, the dishes I put in the drainer are clean, right? And the tray is just catching water, right? So, if my (clean) water has so much bacteria in it, then I really shouldn't be using it to clean my dishes or drink...?

Maybe it's time to branch out, be less picky, I don't know, but I'm tired of being annoyed by my dish drainer. Does somebody make one that's not annoying? I would love some suggestions if anyone has any. (I'm open to completely changing what I do, too.) Maybe I should get a new sink that has a built-in drainer...? Again, have to wait to redo the kitchen.... Alas!

I love spring

2008-05-03T23:46:00.001-04:00

more baby stuff

2008-05-02T20:26:00.007-04:00

Dee asked some questions about cloth diapers, and I thought I'd put this out there in case anyone else is thinking about this or knows someone who just had a baby.

I bought Bummis Super Whisper Wraps from somebody on the internet. I also got some nice, thick cloth diapers. I think I've bought them from two or three places so far. I can't keep track of them, either they go out of business or their websites just don't look familiar anymore.

I bought (unbleached) prefolds the last time from Zannadu, as they prewashed the unbleached diapers several times for me for an extra charge... it's 35 cents a diaper now. It was worth it for me. All that time, hot water, washing and drying. Really good customer service, and even though I had to wait (a little bit) longer to have the diapers washed, they were pretty fast nonetheless. And it looks like it's a flat-rate shipping fee, which is good when you're buying a lot, or the things are heavy. I would recommend this website for cloth diapers and such.

The next time I buy diapers, I'm going to look further into organic ones. I got so overwhelmed when I did the research. There are just so many options. How to choose "the best"? So many decisions: which diapers, which covers, which seller, bleached or unbleached, washed or unwashed, which size, how many????? This is one of my problems... I get so caught up in what the "best" idea, thing to do, etc., is that I end up feeling paralyzed. So, maybe there isn't a "best," or maybe there is, but what we ended up with was good, it works for us, and Baby still hasn't had diaper rash. Which is definitely a good thing. We could have done worse.

I need to buy more, and I just saw on the site that they're having a 5% discount until May 7... just enter SPRINGBREAK as the discount code.

is anyone else completely freaked out by this?

2008-04-24T14:57:00.016-04:00

All this recent (to me, at least) news about bisphenol-A (BPA) in baby bottles (and everything else) basically has totally freaked me out.

For those of you who don't know (yet) about bisphenol-A, it is a chemical which is added to plastics and as sealants on metal (and probably a lot of other things, too). The chemical industry tells us it's wonderful because it makes plastics resilient, clear, basically unbreakable, and it seals metals from foods, as in baby food jar lids. But I don't want to get ahead of myself here.

Evidently, a lot of people have been talking about and researching the negative effects of bisphenol-A for a while. I've been seeing these baby bottles made by BornFree at Whole Foods for a while, with signs on them saying they are free of bisphenol-A. I had no idea what BPA was then and, like a lot of new parents, didn't have a lot of time to research it.

Well, let me tell you, I've been researching. And the news is not good.

NOTE: DO NOT go to a website called bisphenol-a.org for unbiased info. Despite being a DOT ORG, they are actually run by the plastics industry. Other info which is against BPA may not be unbiased either, but at least it isn't the industry itself putting out the info. Remember how the cigarette companies insisted for decades that their research showed that cigarettes were fine for your health, maybe even good for you? And now it's clear that they were purposefully lying.

BPA mimics hormones and is known to disrupt hormone function as well as how chromosomes are sorted. There is evidence that, even at very low doses, it is linked to cancer, diabetes, reproductive development, hyperactivity, and lots of other health problems.

So, with everything else going on right now, we've been researching this BPA thing, calling companies, buying new things (good for the economy, right?) and trying to decide what exactly to get rid of.

This is what I've come up with so far:

Avent bottles - DO contain BPA; they should be avoided. Supposedly, BPA leaches out at a higher rate if the plastic is heated (as in a dishwasher) or if harsh detergents are used on it (as in a dishwasher). I'm guessing that I'm not the only parent who has put baby bottles in the dishwasher thinking that they'll be more sanitary that way. They are working on a non-BPA bottle and will send out a free sample to you if you call them to complain (1-800-542-8368).

Earth's Best organic baby food - the metal lids contain BPA. So much for buying organic because it's better for my baby. And he liked it, too. :-( The cereals in boxes, though, are OK.

Nalgene bottles are apparently bad, too. Which is too bad, because I love my Nalgene bottles. However, Nalgene says they're phasing out BPA bottles within the next few months, and they already have a BPA-free alternative on the market, called their "Everyday" line.

Powdered baby formula is almost always packed in containers that has BPA, at least in the metal tops and bottoms. Some companies also use BPA in the cardboard on the sides of the containers, too. Similac says that their individual packets do NOT contain BPA. (However, you'll be throwing away a lot more trash with this option, but maybe it's worth it.) Although surprisingly, when I checked in the grocery store, it did not appear to be more expensive. And the organic formula does not appear to come in the individual packets. Again, it's ironic that the organic option comes with extra chemicals (no extra charge!! sorry for the sick humor). They also said that the already-prepared liquid has BPA on the lid part, but not in the bottle. If you know of a formula that doesn't have BPA, let me know! The organic stuff from Earth's Best supposedly has even more BPA than the Similac, although I forgot to ask those folks about formula when I was on the phone with them.

In general, plastics with the numbers 3, 6, or 7 on the bottom (in the little recycle symbol) should be avoided. Some #7 materials (which just indicates "other" plastic) are OK, for instance, if it is a combination of #1 and #2, it will be marked as #7. Plastics marked with #1,2,4,5 should be OK for contact with food.

Now for the good news:
The Canadian government ROCKS!! - I have another post coming up with details on this one.

I've already changed to BornFree baby bottles, mostly glass bottles.

Earth's Best organic cereals are in boxes that have no BPA.

I'm making baby food for now, organic, fresh, home-made, BPA-free. Love the pressure cooker.

gotta love having time off

2008-04-24T11:24:00.007-04:00

So this is one of the things that I've been "working" on the past couple of days...

I noticed that FreeRice seemed to have added some new levels as well as new vocab words. So I decided I would beat my previous high level of 50. I got all the way to 55! Woo-hoo! Yup, I'm proud of myself.

I also saw in the options that you can have it remember your level and the number of grains you've "donated" via their website. So, even though this doesn't include my earlier attempts, you can see I've been spending way too much of B's naptime playing FreeRice.

Hey, at least I'm doing something good while goofing off.

Which reminds me...

Here's another way I started goofing off occasionally: The ESP Game.

Basically, the computer matches you with an anonymous partner, and you get a set amount of time to agree on words to describe photos. I read about this in a Smithsonian magazine article about young innovators. The magazine was interesting... something like 25 people under 25 who are changing the world (don't quote me on the exact title, but you get the gist).

It's set up as a game, but the people who "play" it are basically doing a task to help all internet users: cataloging the internet's photos/images. The article said that people who play get "attached" to their partners, which seemed weird to me at first, I mean, how can you get attached to someone that you can't actually communicate with, don't know their name/username/nothing. All you are doing is typing in words to describe photos. But I will say this: some people are much better partners than others. Funny, it's obvious when you change partners: some people will hit pass immediately for every picture (annoying!), others will try for a while, sometimes I get a partner who really thinks like me, and we get lots of bonus points.

OK, I feel kind of nerdy, but it's fun. And it keeps me off the street.

still worried, but kind of moving on

2008-04-24T11:19:00.003-04:00

Yes, I guess I'm still worried (see the other entry), but really, there's nothing I can do about it. Except stop blogging, I guess. Or start a new blog. Ugh, that sounds so tiring. I wonder if this person even realizes what happened. My guess is... she must. But she hasn't said anything about my slip-up. So I don't know if she's just trying to be polite and pretend nothing happened. Or if she actually didn't notice.

OK, moving on. (Well, maybe not really, as I would still like some reassurance....)

worried

2008-04-07T17:33:00.004-04:00

So yesterday I was working. Thinking-type of work, at home, on the computer, not like heavy physical labor or dangerous-type stuff. Since I was on the computer, I was kind of goofing off at the same time. But since I was working and goofing off simultaneously, I guess I wasn't focusing as closely as I should have been (probably on either).

And so, I did something really stupid that I wouldn't ordinarily have done (at least I hope not). I put myself in kind of a vulnerable position with someone who I don't really know all that well, and now I'm really worried that this person might do something that is not so nice. Well, maybe this person wouldn't do that, and I hope not, because I'd like to think that I know this person well enough to say that, but quite honestly, I don't. I didn't realize it right away, but I realized shortly thereafter, and I can't believe I would be so stupid.

So I was sick with worry last night and into today. There's really nothing I can do about it, at this point, as what I've done is irreversible. I wish, though, that I had some reassurance that things would be OK. I'm still worried.

send some positive thoughts

2008-04-06T00:32:00.003-04:00

Sustainable Dave's father's been hurt, and Dave has asked everyone to keep him in their thoughts/prayers/whatever you want to call it. And pass it on. For what it's worth, I'll ask all three of my readers to join me in this.

I have been so busy that I really have not been keeping up with blog reading lately. There are a few blogs that I still stop in on, but mostly I just haven't had time. I had been watching Dave's blog since the beginning of the year when I heard about him, but my RSS feed showed 63 unread messages from his blog. So you can see that it's been a while since I've read anything from him. But tonight, for whatever reason, I decided to drop in, and this is what I read.

organizing tips from Ikea (or how to keep your pie)

2008-03-15T23:02:00.005-04:00

Thanks to blackbird, I found the Ikea channel on YouTube. Have I mentioned my obsession with all things Ikea? So, I thought this was clever...

Check out blackbird's post to find out what led me there.

I just tried the blogger shortcuts for making hyperlinks, and damn, that's easy. Not that I mind doing the html, but you gotta love a good shortcut. I feel a little silly for doing all the html myself all this time.

success, at last!

2008-03-09T20:00:00.002-04:00

I finally got the bulb syringe to work! Last night, Baby had a rather hefty-sized booger in his left nostril, just a tad too far in for my finger (get over it) or a tissue to reach it. He was getting upset by all my poking, but he was already upset by not being able to breathe properly, so I figured I'd take another stab at the syringe thingy. Which has been incredibly annoying until... it worked! I can't believe that I was able to finally get it work.

I know this must sound so silly, but I've been trying to get this thing to work for seven months, now, and it's been so frustrating. I felt such a rush of success last night.

I am cilantro

2008-03-08T15:51:00.002-05:00

You Are Cilantro

The bad news is that there are some people who can't stand you.

The good news is that most people love you more than anything else in the world.

You are distinct, unusual, fresh, and very controversial. And you wouldn't have it any other way.

What Spice Are You?

I do love a good accent

2008-03-08T12:18:00.003-05:00

Amy Walker is obviously quite a talented young woman. I'm impressed by anyone who can do a good accent, but she can go seamlessly from one to another to another and so on and so on....

I can't remember where I picked this up, so my apologies for not crediting the person who must have linked to it before me.

Hallelujah!

2008-03-05T14:59:00.003-05:00

I feel silly, but I'll admit it, I've been watching American Idol (off and on for the past few years), and this guy is my pick...

He's cute and he's got a nice voice. But the thing I like about him the most is that he's not cocky, and he seems kind of nerdy and uncomfortable with all the attention and everything.

I keep thinking I'll actually vote for him, but I haven't done it yet. Either my phone needs to be recharged, or I get sidetracked at the end of the show.

But I hope he wins. He seems sweet.

take care of your plants

2008-03-05T14:35:00.004-05:00

Have I mentioned that I love composting? Seriously, it rocks. You should try it. Oh, but I live in the city, or I don't have a yard. Not a problem! You can have your own pet worms....

I did try this when I lived in Chicago, but I didn't really know what I was doing, and I think I killed the worms. There wasn't enough oxygen getting in there; I remember there being a lot of condensation. It's much easier with a compost bin/area outside.

But even though I have several of those, I am sorely tempted to have one of these composting "systems," too. It looks like "fun." OK, maybe I have a strange idea of fun, or maybe I'm just easily amused?

I worry, though, that we produce too much composting material for something like this. Plus, can you get a bucket o' worms via the mail when it's still cold (freezing) outside?

Almost forgot to mention: the video up there is from Sustainable Dave over at 365 Days of Trash. This post has been sitting in my drafts for a while....

I still remember this ...

2008-02-17T23:36:00.001-05:00

Here's the first part ...

I really like this...

2008-02-17T18:46:00.002-05:00

She reminds me of Regina Spektor.

changing the world one loan at a time

2008-01-27T11:59:00.000-05:00

My mom bought this book

for me off my wishlist which, by the way, is amazing and I recommend it.

The author, Muhammud Yunus, started a microlending institution in his native Bangladesh about 25 years ago (ish), and he and the Grameen Bank have been lending small amounts of money to the poor ever since. His goal is to eradicate poverty. The stories he tells are incredibly moving. He was the head of the economics department at a university in Bangladesh when he started questioning why economics and development practices don't help those who are below the poverty level. He saw how lending someone as small a sum as $27 (I think that was the amount) would be enough to start helping someone get out of basically a slave-labor situation. One of the things that's interesting about the Grameen bank is the extraordinarily low default rate, which is something like less than one percent (don't quote me on that number), compared to a much, much higher default rate amongst borrowers who actually have collateral.

With the book, my mom sent a note saying that I should check out Kiva.org which is a microlending organization that she had been lending with for a couple of years or so. I remember reading about microlending sometime back in the '80s and wanted to get involved then, but didn't know where to start. Kiva makes it very easy, and you can choose who you lend to. I recommend checking them out, too. They've been having a lot of publicity lately, which means that occasionally they actually run out of people who are looking for loans.

am I the last person in the blogosphere to figure this out?

2008-01-16T17:34:00.000-05:00

I just figured out how to do an RSS feed to get updates via Mail when the blogs I watch get updated. Wow! Does this ever simplify life... well, at least as far as catching up with blogs goes.

Did all of the rest of you already know this? I feel so... 20th century. I used to go surfing occasionally to see if people had updated. I would check a couple of blogs every day, with people who update all the time. Others I would check more often than they updated, and others I would check less often. Now I can get an update easily. Whoa... am I impressed with myself right now!

OK, back to other stuff.

I just got my first spam comment

2008-01-16T17:23:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, I guess someone (or maybe "something"?) noticed my blog! I have enabled word verification so that people trying to sell their schemes online can't take advantage of my site.

I still want to hear from the real live people out there, though!

For the real folks out there, thanks for the comments! I promise to be back when I can find a few more moments in the day. Now, does anyone have any advice about how to do actually do that?

how fun!

2008-01-08T20:28:00.000-05:00

I admit I used to love to play Tetris, back in the days when you had to feed quarters into a machine and stand in front of it ~~for hours~~, moving a joystick back and forth. Yes, I'm embarrassed, but I was good....

waste not, want not

2008-01-02T20:18:00.000-05:00

I heard this story about a guy who plans to not throw anything away for an entire year on NPR on my ride home today. Fascinating. Here's the link to his blog, where he'll describe the process for a year.

It's hard to imagine not throwing anything away for a year. Including recycling. Yikes! We don't have much trash (considering), but our recycling bins overflow.

I love composting, and having a yard (finally!), makes it (relatively) easy to do. I once had a worm composting system, when I lived in an apartment in the middle of the city, but it didn't work very well for me. I guess I didn't have enough worms or something. But composting outside rocks!

I'll be following his progress when I can make it to the computer. Yeah, you know, I'm not here very much any more.

OK, now I'm just goofing off

2007-12-14T12:45:00.001-05:00

Your Vocabulary Score: A+

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!
You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

I took the State CapitAls quiz, but I refuse to post my score (which was quite good), because the person who made it up didn't know how to spell. CapitOl is the building, not the city.

so they say...

2007-12-14T12:38:00.000-05:00

People Envy Your Compassion

You have a kind heart and an unusual empathy for all living creatures. You tend to absorb others' happiness and pain.
People envy your compassion, and more importantly, the connections it helps you build. And compassionate as you are, you feel for them.

What Do People Envy About You?

Thanks to dee for this one. And yes, I will eventually do the meme you tagged me on. I promise.

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth ... yet

2007-12-14T08:56:00.000-05:00

Going back to work has been ... interesting. Fatiguing. I don't even have time to check email very often any more, much less post. It's been rare when I've had time to read my favorite blogs, and I haven't commented on any of them in ages. Even though I've thought about it when I have tried to catch up.

So...work. On the one hand, it feels as if I was never gone, that things are just as they always were. And on the other hand, it feels completely bizarre and different. It's true, that things haven't changed. I work in a school, and schools are meant to be the same from year to year, regardless of any changes. The thing that's changed is me, and my life and my situation.

I've always been one of those teachers who works continuously (read: overworks). I am always trying to come up with new, interesting things to do, new ways to teach to reach kids who learn differently, new ways to use technology to make learning accessible and fun. And now, I'm not bringing so much work home with me, and so I'm not able to do that in the same way.

Maybe over the winter break (which will be here very soon), I'll be able to work on some of these things, little by little.

I'm so tired. And my body aches. I decided that today I am staying home; maybe I'll go see the doctor about some of the pains in my joints. (Although, to be honest, I really don't think there's anything they'll be able to do.)

pizza personality pie

2007-11-20T15:30:00.000-05:00

What Your Pizza Reveals

You have a hearty appetite. You are likely to complain if a restaurant has small portions.

You aren't particularly picky about pizza. It's so good... how could you be? You fit in best in the Western part of the US.

You like food that's traditional and well crafted. You aren't impressed with "gourmet" foods.

You are eclectic, stylish, and totally random with your choices.

You are deep and thoughtful. You should consider traveling to Paris.

The stereotype that best fits you is hippie. You knew it was coming.

What Does Your Pizza Say About You?

My take:

I think I am picky about pizza.

Can't even imagine what that means about fitting in best in the Western US....

Traditional, well-crafted foods...yeah. Gourmet...only if it's actually good, not just trying to impress folks.

Me? Random?

Deep and thoughtful...I'll buy that. And I will consider travelling to Paris, thank you very much for the advice. Maybe in the summer?

Hippie...OK. Sure, in some ways, but lots of my friends are hippier than me, so they wouldn't buy that. But I'll accept it, considering a computer is telling me this based on which pizza toppings I want.

Thanks to Peevish for this.

pissed off

2007-11-08T22:56:00.000-05:00

Does blogger allow you to use language like that on here? I can't remember if I've seen anyone else doing it. But the constant recalls of items for children due to excessive lead paint really pisses me off. Not that the items are being recalled, mind you. But what the hell is anyone doing using lead paint in children's stuff?

I'm on the CPSC's email list for child & infant product recalls. CPSC=US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Every so often, they send me an email with several items on it that have been recalled. And the vast majority of them are for lead paint. And all but one item so far that I've noticed has been made in China.

Granted, the vast majority of products being sold in the US are manufactured in China now. And whatever my/your stance on that for economic reasons is beside the point. My point here is that if you are the CEO of a US company, and you are trying to cut corners so that you can give your stockholders big earnings, so you ship all your manufacturing overseas because they use ~~slave~~ cheap labor there, you had better be paying attention to the quality of the products. Sure, all the plastic crap is meant to break so that you'll have to buy your kid another one. I don't even care about that right now.

WHO is deciding to use lead paint? Where is it coming from? Are the US companies like Mattel and FisherPrice (and they are far from being the only ones) calling for lead paint in their specs for the toys? My guess is probably not. So are the Chinese factory managers/owners substituting lead paint because it's cheaper, easier to come by, or some other reason? And if so, where the hell are the US companies' CEOs, managers, bazillions of people who are paid the big bucks, when it comes to checking on what's actually going on in the factories?

And God forbid that the government in general, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission in particular, try to protect children from businesses that just want to do their thing as cheaply as possible with no regard for the effect on children. Nancy Nord, who is head of CPSC, said that "a Democratic bill that would expand her agency 'could have the unintended consequence of hampering, rather than furthering, consumer product safety.'" See the original article in Newsweek here. And UPI reports that Nancy Nord and her predecessor took nearly 30 trips financed by industry groups. All of this makes me so mad, I feel my blood pressure rising.

This post has been working its way through my brain for a while now; I finally had to vent. I may add more in this vein another day, but for now, I'm putting it out there. If this is an issue that you care about, I encourage you to contact your reps and senators.

what I want for my birthday...

2007-11-06T12:23:00.000-05:00

So, with the advent of the new Mac operating system, J and I have been discussing buying a laptop so that he can work while we go away during the week. He needs to have a PC to do his work from home (or away, in this case), and the new Macs have been capable of working as either Macs or PCs for a while now.

I did a comparison of how the new laptops stack up against my desktop iMac (do they even call them iMacs anymore?), which is, let's see, between three and a half and four years old. How time flies...it doesn't seem that long ago.

I'll try to get all the jargon down.

My current computer has 1.25 GHz processing speed. The new MacBook/MacBook Pro has a range of 2.0 GHz up to 2.4 GHz. So the slowest is quite a bit faster than mine, and the fastest is almost twice as fast.

My computer has 768 MB memory (and I added an extra memory card, as it only came with 512MB I think). The MacBooks all have 1GB memory; the MacBook Pros have 2GB.

My hard drive must have 80GB, as it says 74.41 GB, and that is an usual number, to be sure. The MacBooks have 80GB/120GB/160GB; the MacBook Pros have 120GB/160GB/160GB.

Not sure if I need another (bigger) external hard drive for the automatic backups that happen with Time Machine.

J has been asking what I want for my birthday (on ~~Sunday~~ Saturday), and what I want to do. His response was...something on your Amazon wishlist? I've been thinking, "Don't you know what I want, I mean, what else have I been talking about for the past month...?"

Specifically, the 15-inch, 2.4GHz, 2GB hard drive with 160GB memory (just in case he's checking this out for ideas...).

He's a little clueless about these kinds of things, I love him dearly, don't get me wrong, but birthday goings-on and presents and things--not his forte. It would be a big present, but it's a big birthday. You know, when the first number in your age changes, it seems to be a bigger deal. (I'm feeling a bit old.) So, we'll see....

Halloween, after-the-fact

2007-11-01T16:39:00.000-04:00

I'm not a big fan of Halloween, especially so the older I get. We did buy a secondhand costume for the baby, but decided last minute that it was going to be too hot for him to wear. So the day before Halloween, I dressed him up as a little business-baby, and we went into J's work for their kids' Halloween party. Then on Halloween night, with our big bags of candy open, ready to hand out, we dressed him a shirt that said "I want my mummy." I'll try to get a picture up later, but tonight is going to be crazy, I know it already.

The biggest disappointment, though, was the small number of kids that came by.

Whoa, do we ever have too much candy!

bumperstickers, etc.

2007-10-30T23:50:00.000-04:00

So I found this cute bumpersticker:

and on the same site, I found some others that I thought were interesting. I liked this theme, but I couldn't decide which one I liked best:

although the t-shirt had another slogan on the back, and I doubt that I would actually wear it.
I also liked

and

crush meme

2007-10-30T23:48:00.000-04:00

I saw this on motherbumper, and a wave of nostalgia swept over me. Here goes:

Micky Dolenz from The Monkees. I am NOT old enough to have seen these the first go-around. But I adored them when I was about eleven. I would watch them in reruns all summer long. I loved them so much I actually recorded them on audiotape. Yes, you read that right, AUDIOtape. This was in the days before VCRs. Well, at least before we had a VCR, and while we weren't one of the first to get one, we're still talking early technology. I would listen to them at night with an earphone and my huge radio/tape player. I had seen them so many times that I knew what kinds of visual hijinks they were up to just by hearing the sound effects. In fact, I had quite a fantasy life which revolved around being part of the Monkees' "family."

Shaun Cassidy. I may have had a crush on him just because every other girl in my class did. I'm kind of embarrassed to say that I was a follower on this one. But I think I had a poster of him up on my closet door.

Timothy Hutton. This one started when I was in eighth grade (?). I *had* to see a movie for something in school, and my mother took me to see "Ordinary People." I loved the brooding, sad character he played. Sad story. Really hard to take in Mary Tyler Moore as the bad guy, but I still feel nostalgic whenever I see him, which is pretty rare. The crush even extended a bit to his father, Jim Hutton, who I would occasionally see in old movies on TV, like "Walk, Don't Run." I don't remember anything about this, only that he was in it. Whatever happened to Timothy Hutton anyway? I'm glad I outgrew the crushing on the brooding intellectual type.

Johnny Depp. This one is ongoing. I have loved the quirky characters he portrays in films since I first saw him. I'm sure I can't name all his movies, but definitely goes back to Edward Scissorhands and Benny & Joon days.

The Mac Guy. I have no idea what his name is or the name of that movie that he was in not too long ago about the kids who make up their own college. But I have to see him in whatever he's in. OK, I'll be the first to admit it, I am totally a Mac person. Love Macs. Hate PCs. Love the Mac commercials. Think the Mac guy is really cute. And sweet. Come on, would YOU be so nice to that PC guy? And I just found out that Mac is ditching the Mac guy because ... people end up sympathizing with the PC guy. Really? Does anybody really sympathize with him? OK, maybe sympathize with him because he's such a loser-nerd (don't give me a hard time about this, I don't think all nerds are losers, but this one is), but I for one, leave the commercials feeling like the Mac guy is nice and really knows his stuff, but he doesn't shove it down PC guy's throat. Let's face it, you can do much cooler stuff with a Mac right out of the box. Intuitive is the key word here.

Hey, does anybody know where this word "meme" comes from and what it actually means? I think I looked it up the other day, and the only meaning I could find was a linguistic one about morpheme or somesuch.

I love Apple

2007-10-29T18:28:00.000-04:00

The clever folks at Apple have come up with a new version of their operating system. Go watch the guided tour of Leopard and tell me that you're not convinced. I am completely amazed by their uncanny ability to come up with ideas that are so amazing. I wish I could come up with ideas like this. I am astounded. How do they do this? Go ahead and watch it. I can wait. Then we can discuss.

Seriously, using Cover Flow (like on your iPod) to be able to preview all your documents??!! How cool is that!

And Time Machine, to back up everything automatically on an external drive every hour, so you can go back and find anything you've lost, thrown away accidentally, etc. Love it.

Spaces and Stacks are kind of cool, too. I like how they're trying to keep me organized. Because I really need some help here.

The built-in stationery in Mail is pretty cool, too. (I was snookered in by the birth announcements, which we haven't sent out yet. We did send emails to people to let them know, to everyone whose email addresses we have. But my mother-in-law kind of took me to task for not having sent out real ones. When do people have the time/energy to DO that? Seriously.... I guess I could have done it rather than starting a blog, but...should I feel guilty? I DO feel guilty about not having started the thank-you-cards yet. But I will. Really. At least I have them, as well as a list of what & who to send them to.) Oh, and they have a very cool way to easily send out e-postcards. You can just drag & drop your own photos into the template, then position and re-size them in the postcard!

Back to Leopard:
The only thing I don't like (and this is admittedly small) is that they name the operating systems after big cats. Not that I dislike big cats. I understand why they do it, they're powerful, fast animals, sleek, cool. Fine. But I can never remember which one I currently have. I think I have Tiger. But that's only because I can't think of the other animals' names: was there a Jaguar maybe? I don't think there was a Lion. There was a Panther, I'm pretty sure.

In any case, now it's Leopard, which must be 10.5. And I HAVE to have this. Really, I was convinced the first time I saw the guided tour. Yes, I actually watched it more than once. The first time, I got distracted. Maybe the baby needed something. Or the phone rang. Or my attention wandered. But I went back when I got the second email from Apple. Then I watched a second time when I made J sit down and watch it.

toast

2007-10-29T17:38:00.000-04:00

Reading blackbird's latest post inspired me to go over and have a look at Toast.

Here are a couple of things that I liked:

First, there was this peg bag. Don't ask how I know what the term "peg bag" means. I like it. However, I don't have a clothesline here yet, so, it would be unpractical. And even if I did have a clothesline, I have no idea where my clothespins are.

I like these pajama pants, too. They look cozy. I am all about cozy these days, what with the chill in the air. They look better (or at least cozier) on the website. This is what I would love to do while wearing these pants:

Mmm. I love ironing while being cozy at home on a cold day. But only table linens, napkins especially. Maybe curtains. Don't ask me to iron your shirt with all the pleats.

too funny

2007-10-26T22:46:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe how much I laughed while reading this. So hard, in fact, that J came in to ask if I was laughing or crying. All I could do was nod.

Thanks.

why is it ... ?

2007-10-26T17:04:00.000-04:00

harder to post pictures on here than it is to post video? Or is it just me? Maybe YouTube just makes it so easy. But with Flickr, I found it incredibly difficult to figure out how to get the pictures on here. But I finally did. If it weren't so cold here, not only outside, but in my office (I think this is the only room in the house where we haven't turned the heat on yet), I would have broken out into a sweat trying to do this.

open with caution: contents could cause heart attack

2007-10-26T15:54:00.000-04:00

An open letter to New England Herbal Foods LLC, manufacturers (or importers?) of Spaa Thai Red Curry and other foods-in-a-box.

To whom it may concern:

I'm writing about your product "Spaa Thai red curry with bamboo shoots and rice," described on the back of the box as "Thai Red Curry with Jasmine Rice Meal." I've bought this item (and several others of your Thai meals in a box) on many occasions.

However, as I was heating up my dinner last night (above-mentioned meal in a box), I read through the nutrition facts on the side of the box a little more closely.

Here were some of my thoughts:
Total Fat: 17% (I'm thinking, OK, not too bad)
Saturated Fat: 35% (I'm thinking, yikes! that's a little high, this is over one third of the sat-fat a person should have in a day)
And then: Well, these numbers might be a little high, especially since there isn't THAT much food in this box, but I like how it tastes, so OK, whatever.

THEN, I noticed the number of servings per container: 3. THREE!!!!! There are THREE servings in this box. You have GOT to be kidding me! NO ~~effing~~ (expletive deleted in the email I sent) WAY! How could there be THREE servings in this box???

Well, maybe it's meant to be a side dish, that you share with your family...?
Probably not, since the box "Includes bowl and fork" (as it says right on the front of the box...ONE bowl, ONE fork. Plus, on the back of the box, it says "Thai Red Curry with Jasmine Rice Meal." MEAL. Singular. ONE meal. NOT three.

So, I did the math (not that hard 35% x 3 servings), and this little box has 105% of the daily recommended amount of saturated fat. ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE PERCENT!!! What, are you trying to kill your customers? I mean, first of all, you're misleading the public by saying that there is only 35% sat-fat. Because, let's face it, most people don't read the part where one little box has THREE servings. And let's face it, you've done your share of market research, as you state on the page explaining the Thai Red Curry: "ATTRACTIVE: Very attractive Packaging (Research-driven design). " (http://www.neherbalfoods.com/page/product/thaiCurry/thaiRedCurry.htm) So you know that people are going to just read the numbers and not notice the multiple-serving part. Very sneaky.

And also from your website, the article that you're so proud of from the Boston Globe (http://www.neherbalfoods.com/page/news/bostonGlobe.htm) states: "The two servings promised are really only enough for one, so don't feel obligated to share." Of course, they don't mention the part about how there's enough sat-fat that you shouldn't eat anything else all day except lettuce.

And then to top it off, on this page (http://www.neherbalfoods.com/page/product/product.htm), the title of the page actually says: "New England Health Food, L.L.C." HEALTH food? Maybe this is a typo, but an egregious one to be certain. Right now, I am NOT impressed by your company, or these extremely misleading tactics you use with your customers.

Seriously,
a very unhappy consumer/customer

seven random things

2007-10-23T16:17:00.000-04:00

I've been tagged! This is a first--how exciting! So, I was tagged by snowy, and here are my 7 things:

1. I have wanted to live in Europe (specifically France, but maybe somewhere else that I could speak the language, too) for as long as I can remember. I've only been out of the country for up to six weeks at a time, however. It's very hard for an American to get a visa to work in France. I would love to have to conduct my daily life in a language other than English. A friend of mine told me she thought I mostly just wanted everyday life to be challenging. Hmm, maybe.

2. I have a weakness for those "organizer-y" things, you know, like the kind they sell at The Container Store or other such places. Boxes, cubbies, things with drawers, etc.

3. I'm afraid to ride my bike on city streets. Even with a helmet. I'm surprised I don't see more bikers hit by cars. (People around here drive like lunatics, in my opinion.)

4. I know how to sew (maybe not well, but well enough), but I have a huge bag of clothes that need to be mended, and the bag has been full for years already. Maybe I should come to grips with the fact that I'm not going to mend them? And I refuse to buy pants anymore that need to be hemmed. Either they come the right length, or they are hemmed by the manufacturer (as at Lands End, where they hem for free).

5. I first heard of email eighteen years ago, but I had no idea what it was (and I wasn't the only one). I learned how to do basic HTML about five years ago, long before I became seriously interested in the internet. I've had a professional website (a website for my work, although it looks pretty professional, too) for about five years (when I learned HTML in order to work on it), but I only started a blog a few weeks ago.

6. I was painfully shy when I was young. I always thought of myself as shy until one day in my late twenties/early thirties I noticed that I was speaking in front of a group in a way I *never* could have done even a few years before. I'm not exactly sure when the change occurred, but I can be very forthright now, and most people would not consider me shy.

7. My all-time favorite unusual flavor of ice cream is Ben and Jerry's Chubby Hubby. Weird combination: chocolate-covered pretzels with peanut butter filling, ice cream is peanut butter and vanilla (I think), with caramel swirls. I haven't had it in many years, and I don't even know if they still make it. If not, it would be a shame and completely my fault, as I stopped buying it. It had enough sat-fat to instantaneously clog all the arteries in your body, however, not that I cared about that then, but it was definitely yummy!

I'm tagging super des, From my French window, and kittycafe. I hope you don't mind, as this is my first time doing one of these....

Here are the rules which you must abide by if you are tagged.
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 3 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

I didn't realize...

2007-10-19T11:54:00.001-04:00

that if you start a post, then spend a really long time editing it and adding to it, Blogger publishes it on the day that you started it rather than the day you finish it. Note the 100 things about me post, which I just finished, and just posted, but it's on October 4. And for some reason, it says it was posted at 1:09 pm, but it's not quite noon now. I don't know. If someone out there reads this and can explain to me, I'd appreciate knowing why this is.

I wish I were so clever

2007-10-18T13:00:00.000-04:00

I think this is hilarious. It's amazing what you can do with just a semester of a language, and a LOT of expression.

What is more important?

2007-10-17T13:58:00.000-04:00

I find this very moving.

Call your representatives today.

Kids! Stand strong together.

LibraryThing's to read or not...

2007-10-12T13:55:00.000-04:00

This is copied from ElanaJane at what she said too (I hope it's OK that I copied it).

these are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users. this is how i shape up against them....

books i've read are in bold,
the ones i started but couldn't/didn't finish are in italics,
what i couldn't stand has a strike through,
and those underlined are on my To Be Read list.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and punishment
Catch-22
One hundred years of solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi
The name of the rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveller's Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius
Atlas shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran: a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury tales
The Historian : a novel
A portrait of the artist as a young man
Love in the time of cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault's pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A clockwork orange
Anansi boys
The once and future king
The grapes of wrath
The Poisonwood Bible
1984
Angels & demons
The inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One flew over the cuckoo's nest
To the lighthouse
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver's travels
Les misérables
The corrections
The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Dune
The prince
The sound and the fury
Angela's ashes
The god of small things
A people's history of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A confederacy of dunces
A short history of nearly everything
Dubliners
The unbearable lightness of being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity's Rainbow
The Hobbit
In cold blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

I noticed that there were a lot of books on this list that I read in high school, as well as some after. Not many that have been read recently. Maybe because "unread/unfinished" books tend to be those we are required to read.

dealing with people working in my house #2

2007-10-05T14:45:00.000-04:00

Grr. Two things. First of all, they left the basement door, which leads outside, not only unlocked but OPEN. Hello? And I've had to say something to him before about leaving the door unlocked. At which point, he blamed it on the guys working for him. Who, by the way, look to be about 18 years old. And yes, 18 year olds need jobs, too, but don't pass the buck on them. If you're 50-some-odd years old and you are running a company, and you choose to hire really young people, you need to be responsible to see that they do things the right way. If they make a mistake and I end up with a leaky roof, is he going to say, "Well, you know, the guys, they just don't know...." Even 18-year-olds live in houses and theoretically know how to shut a door, right? (At least most of them.) In any case, can you say "pissed off"?

Secondly, I go outside this morning to check the mail and walk around a bit with the baby, only to find that they left a huge pile of trash behind. Hello? This is part of your job, too! I shouldn't have to haul your crap to the dump, especially since it's illegal to dump wood anyway, and they say they'll confiscate the dump sticker if they find someone dumping illegal stuff.

So now, I get to be the bad guy, and call him up and say "I'm not impressed." Because he didn't show up today to finish the work he still needs to do.

about me

2007-10-04T13:09:00.000-04:00

1. I am a really talented procrastinator.
2. I used to be vegetarian.
3. I love bright colors, but I tend to wear black.
4. I can't function without my glasses.
5. Good coffee = a happy morning :-)
6. I love accents (well, most accents).
7. I'm a really slow reader, but I still love to read.
8. I'm easily overwhelmed by too many choices.
9. I like chocolate a lot more in adulthood than I did as a child. Maybe I eat better quality chocolate now.
10. One of the things I love about owning a house is being able to paint the walls any color I want.
11. I hate getting my teeth scraped at the dentist's.
12. I loved being pregnant.
13. I love Indian food.
14. I love sleeping outside.
15. I hate to sweat.
16. I love to get mail. (Letters, postcards--not bills or junk mail.)
17. Sometimes I bother to call annoying companies that send me catalogs even though I have no idea how I got on their mailing lists.
18. I am usually late sending out birthday cards/presents...I'd like to improve and be on time/early.
19. I like to swim, but I hate getting water in my ears.
20. I try not to wear uncomfortable shoes anymore.
21. I don't organize things on my computer very well.
22. I like to rake leaves and to weed.
23. I've never had poison ivy.
24. I love listening to NPR, especially in the car.
25. People who don't recycle annoy me.
26. I want to learn how to take better pictures.
27. I like doing laundry.
28. I hate mowing grass. I think I hate the smell that lawnmowers make.
29. I hate how when I'm watching TV, the commercials get so loud that I have to push the mute button.
30. I like having a mute button on the remote.
31. I like cats.
32. I prefer savory over sweet.
33. I don't understand why anyone would prefer a PC to a Mac.
34. I love watching game shows, old sitcoms, and Stargate SG1.
35. "Cash Cab" is one of my favorite current shows. In fact, I want to go to NYC just to get on.
36. I would love to be in a Biosphere experiment.
37. Giraffes are one of the coolest animals to see up close.
38. I've seen the Northern Lights, but only faintly.
39. I'm deathly afraid of diving.
40. I tried to ski once, in unfavorable conditions, and I've never wanted to again.
41. I do like to snowshoe.
42. I build igloos when there's enough snow.
43. I dig holes in the sand when I go to the beach.
44. Snails fascinate me. I'm not crazy about slugs, though.
45. I love babies. Especially my own.
46. It annoys me when people confuse "its" and "it's." Ditto with "you're/your" and "they're/their/there."
47. It also annoys me when people use "I" when they should say "me": "Let John or I know."
48. I really like office supplies.
49. Music from the early '80s is nostalgic for me.
50. I would have made a good detective (I like to think).
51. I'm a really good proofreader.
52. I find written mistakes all over the place.
53. The TV show "Dead Like Me" reallly intrigued me.
54. I like doing things on the computer, but I think it sucks too much time out of my life.
55. I lived without a TV set for nine years of my adult life. (I was much more productive then.)
56. I love little boxes/bags/things for organizing stuff.
57. I wish I could be a professional organizer, but I'm just not organized enough.
58. I love the idea of Ikea more than I actually like Ikea.
59. Aung San Suu Kyi is one of my heroes.
60. I don't really like team sports, and I really dislike watching them on TV.
61. Writing with a fountain pen feels luxurious.
62. I've studied nine languages (including English).
63. I love autumn.
64. I don't get enough exercise these days.
65. I want to travel to New Zealand, Bhutan, and Switzerland.
66. I've already travelled to Canada, England, France, Spain, Italy, Iceland, and Germany (well, only through the airport in Germany). Not in this order.
67. A neighbor taught me how to crochet when I was little.
68. I taught myself how to knit when I was young because I thought it was impossible. (How can you manipulate yarn without any hooks?)
69. I like to knit, especially baby things, because they're small (and faster than adult things).
70. I want to have my own pottery studio one day.
71. I used to weave rugs, but I sold most of them. (I think I sold them too cheaply, and I miss them.)
72. I want to make the world a better place.
73. Every year since I was a teenager, I've wished for world peace for my birthday.
74. Last year, I wished for a house and a baby for my birthday, and they both came true.
75. I love making lists.
76. I have only read a small fraction of the books that I own.
77. I take sugar and milk or cream in my coffee.
78. I get anxious about things that didn't bother me when I was younger.
79. I have way too many bookmarks on my computer.
80. I regularly run out of memory on my computer.
81. I love hanging out in bookshops.
82. I like to leave really good tips when the service is great.
83. I used to wait tables once upon a time.
84. Sometimes I even tell the manager/owner of the restaurant when our waiter is really great.
85. I think the word "waiter" is fine for describing either a man or a woman, and I prefer "firefighter, mail carrier, and police officer."
86. I am a feminist.
87. I think language matters very much.
88. I want to read more of the classics.
89. I like having houseplants, but sometimes I forget to water them. I feel guilty when they die.
90. I like Baroque music.
91. I wish I had a lovely singing voice.
92. The laundry detergent aisle has always been my favorite in the grocery store.
93. I've never voted for a winning president, unless you count Al Gore.
94. After reading the book, the movie is always a letdown (unless you count Harry Potter, but that's only because they follow the books *to the letter*).
95. I want to have a big vegetable garden--organic, of course.
96. I'd prefer to have a flower garden rather than a lawn.
97. I hate going to the doctor.
98. I want to see an iceberg, before they all melt and there's no land left to live on anyway.
99. I think I have too many books.
100. I don't have nearly enough time to read anymore.

favorite things about my sweet little one and dealing with people working in my house

2007-10-04T11:48:00.000-04:00

Seeing that my little one is now going on 9 weeks, here's a list of some of my favorite things as far as he is concerned:

1. B (Baby) sleeping in my arms
2. the Baby Bjorn (have I mentioned how nice it is to have use of one's hands?)
3. peach fuzz hair (so soft!)
4. the way he smells right after a bath
5. the way he smells before a bath, too (although sometimes not so much)
6. the big smiles
7. the way his eyes light up when he smiles
8. cooing and gurgling
9. he's very easy to interpret (no "colic," thank goodness!)
10. he loves being outside

more to come later...

Now for some annoyances, NOT having to do with B.

We're having some work done on our house. When we bought this house, it needed some serious attention. So it's happening piecemeal. But it's so irritating to have to be annoyed at people who work for you. (Or is it just me?)

OK, so they started working in the basement yesterday. I didn't go down there, because they're doing stuff with fiberglass insulation, and I'm here with the baby, which keeps me occupied enough. Last night, I go down to try to tackle the laundry, and I find a MESS. Bits of fiberglass all over, dirt/rocks/fiberglass on TOP of the dryer. (What, did they have to step on the dryer to get to the crawl space? Yes, evidently, they did.... Why not just ask for a stepladder?) They knocked over the trashcan and some stuff on top of a filing cabinet and didn't consider putting things back. Probably didn't notice. Plus, they left the light on in one of our porches. Which shouldn't be a big deal, except grr, the only switch for it is inside the garage, and I have to go outside to get to the garage, AND I had asked them the last time they were here to turn it off before leaving.

So when they showed up this morning, I had to have a "talk" with them. Try to tell them how very annoyed I am without ranting, without pissing them off. Of course, they had excuses. But come on! I just want to say, "Be respectful of my space." I did tell them it's a brand-new washer and dryer, and I didn't want them scratched up.

And then, I was walking outside a little bit ago, trying to locate the guy in charge of the operation, when I noticed that an area of the yard seems to have white paint all over it. And my mint patch looks to be decimated. What the...? So I got really annoyed all over again. Can't they bring tarps or something to paint on? So I guess I have to be all annoyed with them again. I really want to tell them not to come back, that we'll find someone else, but J would be annoyed with me, and it would be a hassle to find someone else, and can I really trust them to be in the house with me here by myself (well, ok, with the baby), etc., etc. [So it appears that I was hasty in my rush to be annoyed: he tells me it was just the rinsing of the concrete bucket that made everything white. But still, why not rinse it so I don't have white greenery?]

de-lurking

2007-10-03T15:41:00.000-04:00

OK, as part of the de-lurking challenge today, I'm going to post some comments other than "anonymous." I still feel strange posting here, but I'm guessing that with practice, it will be easier to write what I plan to when I'm not at the computer.

and so it begins

2007-10-01T21:13:00.000-04:00

After a long, and I really mean long, period of lurking, I finally decided to create a blog. I want to use this as a way of saving some small moments on a daily basis. There are several blogs that I've been dedicated to lurking on, and I want to thank those bloggers, especially blackbird, for encouraging me to dive in.