the burdensome magic of music

The iPod shuffle came in the mail today.
Hooray!
Now I must finish the task of converting all of our CD's into MP3's. This task started long long ago. But we have lots of CD's. Lots. Most of them are crap, with one or two good songs on them. I believe the iPod will remedy that problem. But before the cure can work, the drawn out sting of importing songs must occur.
As I'm importing these songs I think "how magical it is that I can listen to complicated pieces of music that many people collaborated on writing, playing and producing, through tiny microchips wrapped in plastic half the size of my cellphone." I will try never to take that for granted. What a wonderful civilization.
I just bought the MP3 version of Rhett Miller's new album today. It convinced me that I should not give in to cutting Kevin's hair or his likeness to Rhett will be severely diminished.

How happy would I be if he would wear a purple velvet suit like that, I ask you? Very, that's the answer. Very.
I learned about his new album through his MySpace bulletin to me. I'm his friend, you know. He sends me messages.

Baby Tuesday

It's better now! You can watch it, Kevin fixed it!

Video baby this morning, in celecbration of 11 hours of sleeping!

caution, stream of conscience ahead. turn headlights on.

(This stemmed from a comment to Bennett just now...)
I don't journal. I can't do journals. I can't look at my own silly thoughts or feelings. I never liked getting my rough drafts and practice tests back in school because I didn't want to see any little comments about what I did.
But I'm a compulsive blogger. And I love comments on my blog.

What's the difference?

I offer that it satisfies my opinions in a way that a journal cannot.
I didn't realize how opinionated I am until I talked to the spouse about his favorites/least favorites, or rather his lack thereof. He said "If someone asked me what my favorite smell is, I wouldn't know-" and I cut him off and said "I do! Clean dishwasher!"
I usually think opinionated people are pushy and can't stop telling people how to live their lives. But I keep quiet and let people live however they please.

But if you ask me, and I'll have an answer.

This is not a good trait (I have an opinion about my own opinions). I think God would rather us not have little card catalogues in our heads, stowing away each part of His creation in categories. Rather I believe that He wants us to just take everything as it comes.

And I think that is what belongs in a journal: revelations.

So when I go to Bible study and they ask "what did you journal?" I think "I read X and learned Y." I fought this aspect of myself for a while. I felt I was inferior to those who journal about how the molecules that breeze across my face and my daughter's testify to God's majesty. I honestly ponder things exactly like that in my spare moments, but as soon as I write it down, it's dumb, it's a trite statement.

Okay, okay I think I get it now. Here we go, this is my conclusion:
Anecdotal opinions I have about my daily life aren't worth picking up a pencil for and certainly aren't worth filling a leather-bound book with. But I need to communicate my opinions, so I just type them out.
But the serious things that occur to me, or revelations I have, they're only important to me. It's like the line "I poured my heart out...it evaporated." So I don't journal, because I don't want to offer those issues up for criticism from myself or anyone else.

Okay I gotta go wash dishes...

I've been watching my independent films again...

If you have Comcast with the On Demand feature, these are in the Free Movies section under Independent.

Back from Iraq.
Either way you feel about the war, this was a good documentary. It's just 5 interviews with different wounded war veterans from diferent parts of the country. It's not a tear jerker unless you're already emotional, but it is sobering. 3 stars

The Corporation. Superb! It was like a Michael Moore film without Michael Moore. (Not like I don't like him per se, but I know lots of people think he's an oaf). 'Mostly interviews with corporate-concerned people on both sides of the issues. 4 stars.

Alter Egos
I like odd biographies about people that I've neer heard of. Like, who wants to hear any more about Madonna, Dick Cheney, or Kobe Bryant? I prefer to hear about Ryan Larkin's downward spiral.
I learned about Canadian hippies, the animation scene of the 60's and 70's(outside of Disney or WB), and what goes on behind the scenes of a short film. 3 stars

nothing makes my morning like pearl tea and a good garage sale

I took an extended detour with the bug this morning on our outing to get pearl tea and sesame balls a.k.a. "Korean Breakfast."
I found a grande garage sale up the road whereupon I found some lovely items for even lovlier prices.
I bought a large photo of the Santa Ynez area, a polka dot necktie that I lost somewhere between the sale and our house, and these vintage board games:

if only this was her real profession

(designed by moi)
There's not much money in it, but you gotta follow your passion Sam.

don't despair, it's all burning and dodging

Thank you to the chain of people who have made this gorgeous reality possible.
Click this, go to Portfolio and Before/After.
It's like a breath of fresh air knowing that the "beautiful people" aren't as beautiful as we think they are. They've got neck fat like the rest of us.

campaign for a jigsaw 2006

I want a jigsaw.
I give you reason #32 why I should buy one:

Mega cool dog bed.

I could make it.
It could double as a table too.

Reason #33
A stylish answer to the hideous cat condo.


Clearly my pet-life could be drastically altered for the better!

Baby Tuesday

You'd think she'd crawl, but no.



Nope.



Thank you, Auntie Anne for the bumbo! (This photo is coming your way in the mail any day now)

real estate report

Greetings from one of the most expensive real estate areas in the country.
Occasionally I like to see what the market has to offer in rare, distinguished and undoubtedly overpriced housing properties.
San Francisco is my snooping city of choice.
Here are some lovelies:

Oh I do love Presidio Heights, but not 23-million-love. Who buys that?







This property had a photo shoot during a miraculously sunny day in the city.








How nice to have your own store front? I could bring any of my terrible art, clothes for a smaller me, and homemade cookies to a new level of respect, by featuring them in my own store window.









And today I drove around the hills of Saratoga, just a few minutes west of us and I think I saw some of these:



Your own winery? That's too much stress. I don't want the cows or the tractor either, just show me where I can put a bed and a couch.



Peach Hill hacienda...I think Thomas Kinkaide lives somewhere up there.
Public Service Announcement: I'm advising you to not like his art. It's like supporting McDonalds, only less evil, but don't do it, it's not healthy. Read books, stay off drugs and don't buy into Thomas Kinkaide.



A nice lake and a house to go with it. Kevin remarked that "you have to have a certain sized house to support a redwood tree." I think this qualifies.

we are now modern

We just bought an iPod.
Not a big one, just a shuffle.
I feel younger already.

marriage quote

C: "There's an address on the fridge...in purple ink...could you get it and map it?"
K: "What if I don't?"
C: "Then we'll just have to divine it with a stick."
K: " I like that better."
C: "Sorry we're late, we divined your house with a stick."

what a deal

Why would you bother?
It's akin to leaving a penny on the street.
Whoever you are with your cups, just give them away!

How about it?

I thought I'd make a T-shirt with the idea I had.
Maybe I'll print them and sell them next year. I sell them at Monster Truck Rallys, The Vagina Monologues, and of course nihilists would enjoy them as well. They are black after all.

"I'd be lyin if I said I didn't have designs on you."

I hope everyone had good love or anti-love days yesterday.
It seems most of my friends are anti-love, so apparently they have their own Valentines-Kwanzaa called Singleness-Awareness-Day. If you celebrate it, you might as well wear a shirt that says"if I see anything pink, red or heart shaped today, I'm gonna punch my fist through a wall."
Anyway, the husband and I are are not romantic people. And Valentines Day is sort of painful because it's expected that you go out to dinner, buy the box of Russel Stover's truffles from the grocery store and maybe buy some flowers off the guy on the corner or whatever. "The norm" usually gives me the heebie jeebies, and February 14th is no exception. So I decided to organize a scavenger hunt for him.
Pirates were a necessary theme, I think. Not to mention how much I love them, and how nothing says I love you like a skull and crossbones. I thoughtfully planned and designed little clues, their location and the "booty" at the end was a heart shaped pizza custom made by the place he likes.
The event was titled "Yarr! The Skurvy Dog Stole Me Pie!"

These are the clues.


This is the back of the first clue which was stabbed to a tree with a knife for him to find when he got home. It read:
"Avast me hearty!
Some salty sea dog was snoopin’
round my poop deck and swiped my
pie that I had rightly looted from
our last port. Yer wench of a wife
said you’d know how to hunt that
pfeffersack’n cuss down and get
me back me pie.
Now we’ve dropped anchor here
in Killarney and the other
freebooters and I will rest our
legs while ye’ find me pie.
Me thinks I seen the
hornswaggler outside
Black Bart’s Peachy Saloon
passed out in the gutter."
This led him to a piles of rocks outside the tackiest peach house I have ever seen that is down the block. I assure you the following clues were equally entertaining.


These are one of the three bouquets he picked and arranged for me. We've got lots of flowers around our house, eh?

Baby Tuesday

Auntie Dianne sent this outfit to baby C and I thought it was fitting for Valentines Day.
Mojito helped me do a little photo shoot. But he was all or nothing, if he couldn't lick her face, he really didn't want to be part of it.

And this is Baby C's geek-chic look.

worth 50 bucks?

Why must this book I want be in England?
If it were here in the US, the price would be cut in half. And I love half-price-books (Texas shout out!).
I'm actually bidding on another book by this seller, but it's only 9.99 pounds. Yeah, only 18.00 dollars.
I shake my fist at the exchange rate.

hasta la vista fleabies

Since winter this year was a smattering of rainy days in December and little more than a handful of days colder than 50 degrees, the yard fleas did not die as we had anticipated. We had indeed anticipated their death because we're too cheap to pay 75 bucks a month to buy the fancy flea goo that is apparantly the napalm bomb of the parasite world.
And the dogs have been miserable.
This weekend I finally felt sorry enough for them to take measures to fight back.
I looked up natural remedies, partly because we have a baby who likes to pet the dogs, and partly because natural usually means cheap.
The concensus: garlic, lemon, rosemary, lavender, and tea tree oil, tea tree oil, tea tree oil*.
So the bug and I went to Whole Foods (love that place!), bought tea tree shampoo, tea tree oil, and garlic tablets. Then the boys got washed, oiled and pilled (wrapped in cheese of course).
Hoo-weee, does it smell tea-tree-y in this place now! The dogs are obviouly less itchy/scratchy already but they are not happy about the smell.

*Tea tree oil is not made from tea trees. We have a little tea tree bush in our front yard (that I keep pruned in the shape of a heart!) whose branches I wanted to pulverize and with which I wanted to slather the dogs. But no. Darn that misnomer!!

but I'm just a bleeding yank

I remember when these subjective time wasting self quizzes were limited to the pages of Seventeen and Cosomopolitan magazines. But now the internet offers more tests than the world would ever need.
With that said, I just did one. ha.
"What city do you belong in?"



I did really like London, and don't think I won't wear that full length pink raincoat with a fetching black umbrella. But I don't know long I could live there. It's a little depressing. I much prefer San Francisco. I would live there if I didn't fear the muggings, murders, unstable architecture, and complete lack of parking.
So I live near it instead. ;)

who wants a penguin vest?

I bought this vest from the girls section of Old Navy a few years ago because I thought it was the coolest vest I had ever seen. What I should have known was that puffy vests only look good on petite chicks and men. I am neither of those, so I always felt weird wearing it.
Now alas, it's up for sale on Ebay. I just couldn't bear to give it away to Goodwill. I wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it.
C'mon Ebay, show me love.

psychiatry of cuddly toys

I love the Germans so-- much.
(click the british flags)

oh oh oh! look look!

If the baby wasn't napping right now, I'd exclaim out loud "oh my gosh, how cool!!! aaa!!"
Schmancy Toys!
This is the best toy site I have ever seen!!!

Baby Tuesday

It's meager, I know.
I'll make up for it for next weeks Baby's First Valentines Tuesday.


This one is about a month old, but I don't think I posted it before. Granny G has a knack with the bug.



Springtime outfit bought by Auntie Dianne. She's wearing it now because she's a giaganto-baby. I'm sure many people will be glad to know that we no longer change her diaper on the dining room floor, but in her room with all the comfort of every stuffed animal and toy she owns.



He's wearing her in the pouch, but you just can't see her. This is outside the Dr. Pepper museum in Waco, Texas. We visited during a happy little detour between Austin and Dallas last month.

fear not

It's pledge week here at Pull It Together and we'll get back to your regularly scheduled Baby Tuesday post in a moment but first we'd like to take a few minutes of your time to explain the importance of being a member and supporting public blogging...

Ok truthfully, the baby photos are on "the server" and I'm not sure how to get to that.
I'm literally holding the baby with my left arm as I type this so I'll be figuring that out later this afternoon.

...so if you enjoy blogs such as this, why don't you pick up the phone right now and give us a call, make your pledge and support quality blogging....

perhaps neo-trailertrash?

I do love good design. And it seems a hot topic in postmodern design is using pre-fab materials. I found a site all about chic pre-fab housing.
If our backyard wasn't so small, I'd want a little guest house out back. Wouldn't that be swell?

A is for...well I'd better not say!

I apparently went too far with the acronym generator, because it has insulted me!

C	Colorful
H	Honest
A	Awkward
R	Rare
L	Legendary
I	Industrious
E	Easy

Colorful, why yes thank you I think so.
Honest, as honest as I can be without making people cry.
Awkward, most definitely!
Rare, aye aye, not another person with my name exists!
Legendary, oh, you flatter me, I really think that's overdoing it.
Industrious, now, Mr. Acronym Generator, you're really off the mark, I think you should just stop now..
Easy,...what?- What? I've just been defamed by an internet bot!

If you had a face, I would slap it with a glove.

A is for Acronym

This thing specifically asked for your "myspace user name" and I thought somehow it would know if I was lying so that's why it's not just "Charlie."
It is WAY off the mark with tough and huge (unless it knows about about my state-fair-blue-ribbon-winning-big cranium) but otherwise, I'd say "spot on, Mr. Acronym generator!".
How did this internet Magic 8 Ball know that I was lazy?!
If it had a head, I would pat it.

T	Tough
H	Huge
E	Exhausting
C	Careful
H	Handy
A	Appealing
R	Refined
L	Lazy
I	Inspirational
E	Eccentric

Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com

You Make Me Want to Be a Better Blog: URGENT! Please send 300 kilos of white mice. No time to explain.

I don't think I will ever find a funnier blog than:
Chase Me Ladies, I'm in the Cavalry
Click around, it will entertain you all day. Just make sure your boss or students can't tell you're not working.

Nice movie/Sad movie

I rented to two DVDs yesterday to test out our new DVD player. I usually choose movies by how many independent film awards it wins and if Nicolas Cage is not in it
The Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Yes, I rented it because it's a documentary from San Francisco. It began kinda sad, but it was so cute, and by the end I wanted to clap my hands.
Turtles Can Fly
Sounds likes a nice movie. It's not. It was so tragic. I mean, it was a really good movie, story, directing, acting, etc. But I wanted to fastforward about 4 times because of the sadness/stress of a scene. It's about a refugee camp on the Kurdistan/Turkey border at the beginning of the War in Iraq and it follows the stories of a few kids that live there. Heavy! But surprisingly not anti-American.

You Make Me Want to Be a Better Blog: first in a series of many to come

I rabbit-trail occasionally and find some pretty "fierce" blogs.
They spur me. They spur me by their coolness.

Here's one:
Chuck Norris anyone?

stop it, just stop, nobody's falling into the sea!

As I've mentioned before, we have an overstuffed TV screen. Mi esposo and I find ourselves watching pretty much anything as long as it's broadcast in high definition. One the the random HD channels features a series called "Discovering America," in which they highlight one of the 50 states in detail.
This morning it was Delaware.
I was about to post on Wordaholism about how I thought "oh hey Delaware, now I'm gonna find out what's interesting about that state because everyone makes fun of it for being dull and bland." And as I began watching I soon realized it was true, there isn't anything spectacular about Delaware, at all. But then I thought "No, I'll be nice to Delaware and not make fun of them too, what did Delaware ever do to me?"
And then I heard this:
(from an interview with Delaware's one and only vinyard/winery owner)

Interviewer: "So what's the difference between east coast and west coast wines?"
Winery Woman: "Well when the big quakes comes, the difference is when California falls into the sea and Nevada becomes waterfront property I'll be holding the keys to the kingdom."

What in the hell does that mean?!
Come on! Who started this falling into the sea business?!

Conclusion:
Wine people = not fun.
Delaware people = not smart
Delaware wine people can eat my shorts.