Blogs

A Prairie Home Garden

Here's some distance shots and a couple little close-ups of the garden. I'll post more in the next day or two, including one of critter-life around the back yard. Everything was shot on Sunday morning, October 8, and for you gardeners, I'm in zone 5 (on the edge of 6) on the growing season map:

October 9, 2006

I feel better...

Yeah, but I also feel kind of awful. I mean, here's the thing: My husband says we can put off getting rid of one of the cats until he gets his disability, which will probably not be until January or so. We're going to take his cat to get checked out at a vet's office to figure out what's wrong with her- even on sensitive stomach cat food, she vomits pretty much every day, poor thing. I also think there's something wrong with her eyesight. If there's something seriously wrong with her and it's outside of our budget, we'll have to look at options there. So I'm still going to have to get rid of one of our cats, just now one might be getting put down... not exactly sunshine and roses. But it is a respite. And maybe they'll sort it out over this winter. The biggest problem is that there's no alpha cat. My cat is more willing to fight, but she's a scaredy cat, and she knows when she's outmatched. His cat can kick my cat's ass, but won't fight for anything. So the dynamic between them is... well, not dynamic. Any suggestions would be welcomed. At this point, I'm a hair's breadth from invesigating bunnies. (Not as pets. It's a Buffy quote.) We tried getting them both hopped up on catnip this weekend to see if they'd be more willing to duke it out, but no such luck. I'm contemplating bringing a third cat into the mix to shake things up. (My parents' cat, on loan. However, they have a male cat, so I'm not sure what impact, if any, he would have. He'd probably just avoid all the conflict and laze around in the sun.)

October 9, 2006

This Old Snark

Boat Binge

Unfortunately, the Snarks did not keep a food journal during their five days on the boat. Perhaps it is better that way, as Snarky will not be tempted to calculate the calories consumed (and therefore realize that she will need to climb the equivalent of three Mount Hoods in order to bring her Calories In/Calories Out equation back to equilibrium). She can recall a few memorable standouts: foie gras souffle (served with fig preserves and a slice of candied citrus rind); deliciously spicy gazpacho that had more than a passing resemblance to a very good, chilled Bloody Mary; so many dishes that should have been served en flambe but weren't, but were still good nevertheless; schooling DarkityBro on the concept of a Baked Alaska (he was deeply shocked that he had not heard of such a thing in all his twenty seven years - this is surely the sign of a die-hard foodie); ordering the Chateaubriand and then annoying The Mister for the rest of the evening by slathering on a heavy, horribly fake French accent; and vienerschnitzel (Which, yes, was made out of veal. Snarky had a long conversation with DarkityBro about foie gras (a recently very hot topic in Chicago, where he lives) and veal. DB has come from a much more radical animal rights POV than the emotional topics of baby animals and force-fed ducks and geese, but organizations like PETA's overzealousness has caused him over the years to consider all sides of the many issues in this debate.) Oh.. kay. Snarky didn't mean to veer off like that. She'll just wrap up this tangent by saying spending some time with her brother and recently reading Heat by Bill Buford has really caused Snarky to think about just where her food comes from... and how she goes about consuming it. Having said all that, on to the food pics! The Orchestrated Big Food Event was the Midnight Buffet. It is such a big deal that they open it up half an hour early just so people can shuffle past and take pictures. Snarky did not stay up to partake (she had, afterall, just stuffed herself on a four course dinner only a few hours before) but DarkityMa reportedly threw down, later swearing that she would never eat that much ever again. Snarky apologizes for the poor quality of the Midnight Buffet pictures. She could have used a flash, but didn't want to blind the people on the other side of the table... ... such courtesy was not extended to the ship's staff, however, during the Galley Tour. Oh no, Snarky didn't mind at all shoving a camera practically up this poor guy's nose as he tried to carve up a similar melon for the next Midnight Buffet. DarkityBro, Snarky, and The Mister went to a little wine tasting seminar during the first Day at Sea. This was definitely more for fun (no spit buckets!) but was also educational. DarkityBro gave the Snarks all of his little pieces of cheese that were to accompany the selections. Bonus! (The Snarks still resolutely drink wine out of a box, but can now at least understand what the labels mean on those pretty pretty bottles... sort of.) The Mister's last dessert. Some sort of (non-animal cruelty) souffle. The woman hiding in the background was the eldest of the group of three women that were seated at the DarkityFam's table for all of our dinners. It was a daughter treating her mother and grandmother to a cruise (the first night was the grandmother's birthday -- we all got cake!) Grandmother is from Peru and speaks little to no English (and reminds Snarky of her own maternal grandmother), mother speaks Peruvian, Spanish, and English (with a heavy accent), and the daughter speaks unaccented English and translated for her mother and grandmother when needed. They were excellent company. Snarky's last dessert. Why do chefs insist on stacking food? This looked like a crime scene when Snarky was done with it. After the cruise, the DarkityFam stopped off at a Buddhist/vegetarian restaurant and had plates and plates (and plates) of analogous foods (Peking "Duck", "seafood" stew, roasted "pork", etc.). And since all those eleventeen dishes didn't fill up their newly stretched stomachs (Snarky wonders if her own liver will be ripe for harvesting soon) they also went to the best boba tea place in Houston. At least, according to that one chick they asked. It was pretty good! Snarky has more to post, but when the Snarks got back to Portland, they discovered another monster zucchini in the garden, so she need to go make about three loaves of chocolate zucchini bread right now.

darkitysnark

October 8, 2006

Diplomatka

The Scream

Dear Crocs Fans, I want to send a message out to all of those people who wear these hideous things: stop. Stop now. Crocs are ugly in a nefarious, soul-sucking way. No one looks good in them and no one gives a fuck how comfortable they are. I don't care if you are a nurse, waitress or lunch lady--invest in some Danskos and retain your dignity. And to add insult to injury, they now have charms for them. I swear, when I get to Tennessee in four days and see these things schlepping around my local mall, I am not sure how I am going to restrain myself. People: I live in Afghanistan. I see starving children, dead kittens, amputees and sheep being beheaded on my way to work everyday. There is so much ugly in the world. Please take the time to make wise shoe choices so that when I come back to America I won't have to BEAT YOUR ASS. Warmest, Confection

Confection

October 8, 2006

Sale List: October 06

So now I have to clean all this up and compose a sale post. And find out what the LE's cost because the prices shifted and they're not all the same. I have found the price cap guide, just need to look at it, list in hand and make useful notes. Why can't this be done on-screen? Man.. there's something about proofing & editing that REQUIRES a print-out, DEMANDS a colored pen.. and reading glasses. Photos & Descriptions: - all 5ml bottles full & tested once or twice. Variations in levels are mostly bottle-natural becuase I really didn't try anything but Kunstkammer for a winner. I really don't want to go to eBay {pain in the arse, & fees} so this is a forum/community/openly lame flogging of wares. Like when your kids really should go off to college for everyone's good but you're not exactly calling them a cab... 13 Carnivale (2 1x) Chaos Theory LVI Devil's Night Fortunato Gypsy Queen Honey Moon Kunstkammer The Masque Midwinter's Eve Montressor Premature Burial The Sleeper Snow White (2 1x) Suspiro Yerevan Yew Trees

KymbaKhan

October 8, 2006

Not to dwell...

I really am going to have to get rid of my cat. I'm trying to keep my mind off the impending seperation by testing BPAL oils. Tavern of Hell: Not me at all. It is unusual, but there's this odd musky scent that actually turns my stomach. Even on drydown, it's still there in the background. It's possible this might even out to something lovely, but there are other scents I love more from start to finish. I think it might be the ambergris that I dislike. Tweedledee: This, in the imp, smells just like the imp of Kunstkammer I had that loved me. It's like a slightly melted orange popsicle with a splash of iced tea and the spice of the pepper gives this added depth. I really like this one. Severin: I have tried this a couple of times. It smells light and fresh in the imp, but once it hits my skin, it is GONE. I can't smell it past 15 minutes. Strange. Yeah. I don't know what to do with myself, because this isn't working.

October 7, 2006

faedesang

Vexed by text

I cannot for the life of me insert text into a link on the forums..and its making me miserable so this is my testing page for doing that. Please ignore my blatant idiocy while I attempt this seemingly simple task. Thank you & please stand by. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/157067175...8928011?ie=UTF8 I curse you, you irritating long-winded link!! *shakes a fist* Begone with ye! Ok..uhm.. heh Raw Food Made Easy OMG it finally fu#kin' worked!! Why the hell doesnt that work when i post on the forums..?? Huh. (and yes, i realize I didnt have to 'publish' this but maybe someone else will feel comforted knowing they're not alone..?? hehe)

Astburygrrl

October 7, 2006

Goth Hobbit's Blog

Silly people, part the second

Most of the time, what I say and what I want to say remain separate things. Most of the time, that it. Sometimes, something happens at one of my shows that strains my self-restraint past the breaking point. Like tonight. There's a particular variety of Passionate Young Person that I've come to avoid, as I used to belong to an artist's co-op studio and gallery full of them. They're rarely older than mid-20s, and full of the cleansing fire of their convictions. They either mellow out as they get older, or the fire gets banked and they turn into the kind of nanny-state left-wingers that strike me as being neo-cons in Birkenstocks. The ones at the co-op were the cause of me losing my lunch more than once; they were all either strict vegetarian or vegan, I am not, and there were several times when I went looking for my brown bag in the communal fridge, only to be told that my horrible carnivore poison had been thrown away, as it was polluting their vegetarian atmosphere. That's a verbatim quote, by the way. The girls in the co-op viewed every male as a potential rapist, unless said male could provide two notarized statements and a doctor's testimonial to prove that they were gay; even then, they were suspect. Everything was a !Cause!; there was no issue too trivial or obscure that it didn't warrant a three-hour debate, art had no purpose whatsoever unless it served a political or social end, and Lord help you if you disagreed with them about any of this. It was the most humorless bunch of people I've ever been around. Needless to say, I didn't last long. A few weeks ago, a young woman of this type came in to the Cafe during the time I was set up. She looked over my display, and commented that I didn't have any import silver. I confirmed that no, I didn't, but before I could explain about my concern over metal purity (and the fact that I can't solder on a lot of the imported stuff without it falling apart), she proceeded to rake me over the coals about how I wasn't supporting indigenous tribes in their attempts to become self-sufficient, and how I had no social conscience, and I was thieving food from infants in the third world. She then whirled around, exited, and left me to pick my jaw up off the floor. She came back in tonight. Once again, she looked at my work, satisfied herself that I had not repented of my evil ways, and said (you'll have to imagine the disgusted look on her face) "So, I see you're still stealing food from children in economically challenged countries." I don't know what she expected me to do. Cry? Apologize? Be too stunned to answer? I was once, but not this time. I smiled my best evil smile at her and replied "Well, yes; but you'll be pleased to know that I've added taking candy from underprivileged urban babies to my daily routine. They don't need the sugar, with the rates of early-onset diabetes on the rise; and besides, all this heartless capitalism gives me a sweet tooth." She left. Bewildered. Sometimes, you just have to fight fire with sarcasm. Edited to add: I think I just got the most completely obnoxious comment to date. "So, you're the owner but not the jeweler." My hackles went up. Usually, it's "do you make this?", which is fundamentally different. I told him that I was, in fact, the jeweler; he gave me the skeptical "you are", and I offered to show him the scars from cuts and acid burns if he needed more proof than my word. He suddenly looked uncomfortable and changed the subject. It's not the first time I've run into "you're a girl; you can't possibly do all this", but it's the most blatant example in a long while. Jeezus fucking H. Christ. The stupid; it burrrns, Precioussss.

goth_hobbit

October 7, 2006

Whatever comes to mind

Here I am, checking in with odd comments and reports of the usual odd goings-on in my life. Why would anyone drink orange juice when they could eat an orange? I love oranges so much. Apples are really great this time of year, but apples make me hungry. Does anyone else experience this? But oranges are so yum. And orange juice is a fine beverage, it's just that I'd rather eat an orange. A woman that I know passed away yesterday. I was acquainted with her via my ex-husband and through my job; she wasn't a close friend but someone I always enjoyed when we ran into each other. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on her 54th birthday, which was 3 months ago. Doods, that is express check-out. Like a Zen master once said, our problem is that we always think we have time. This woman knew a lot of people, she had a certain zest for the world, and especially this little corner of the world. A lot of people will miss her. The last conversation that I had with her somehow morphed into a discussion of how cute Che Guevara was, and her comment was: "Yeah, he even looked good even when he was all shot to shit." Her legacy for me is to live like there's no tomorrow, never be ashamed to be quirky, and to be proud to love all the things that aren't supposed to be cool to love, but you love them anyway. I need to photograph my garden tomorrow; it's supposed to be warm and sunny, and the weatherdudes say that by next weekend, it's gonna be cold! Eeek! I tend to have a fall garden; my garden is really looking interesting when other people have ripped out most of their flowers. Of course, I let things get really wild-looking and I love it that way. I like to say I have a cottage garden or a more "naturalistic" way of gardening. I'm reading "Devil In The White City" about the Chicago World's Fair in the 1890's, and the man who planned the midway (Olmstead) went to England and decided he liked the more naturalistic, wilder, overgrown English countryside far more than the perfectly planned and ordered British gardens. I felt terribly affirmed when I read that. So maybe next week, I'll post some wild prairie garden photos. The purple dome aster that has gone bezerk, the Mexican sunflowers that have run amok, the hyssop and cleomes that keep blooming, the salvia and the zinnias, the native grasses. I am lucky enough to actually love the plains plants that thrive in this environment. So until later, be happy, be quirky, laugh a lot and of course, smell like an angel or a very sexy devil!

October 7, 2006

Sourball Ho!

Good news, bad news, good news!

I was out of town for a week so I couldn't hop on much. But it's the Lunacy and time for another order! White Moon doesn't sound like my cuppa joe, so I placed an order for the Trick or Treat Inquisition! I made a plea to be Tricked and I hope I get either one of those oils, they sound great, and the Treat oils sound a bit too sweet and foody. So we'll see! The good news was that we had a really fun road trip -- we went to Ohio to see friends and DH's family and drove back to Dallas over a couple of days. On the way back we stayed one night in Memphis, which was a blast! We've driven through the city but never stopped. Beale Street was like Vegas without the casinos -- a ton of bars and restaurants and stores bursting with Elvis stuff and a great voodoo store called Tater Red's Lucky Mojo. The bad news is I'll probably be out of a job in a month. No big drama, our product line was purchased by a competitor and everyone gets a nice severance payment. I'm a little down, though, because we had a great bunch of people and I really liked this job. But more good news! I'll probably head back to my old job at the law firm. Today I finally told my good friend who's still there, who said "YAAAAYYYYY!" when I said my job would be ending. Thanks for the support, dude! I liked my old job too and hope that I could come back, but it's still a bummer, you know?

dawndie

October 7, 2006

Eoywin's Blog

Kitty Issues

I have a cat named Star, and we've had him since March. I love my cat very much, so I'm worried how he is going to react when we bring home another kitten. We briefly had another pet, a puppy back in March, and that did not go well. Star and the puppy did not get along. We didn't take the puppy back because of that, it was because the puppy bit Todd in the face, and kept going for our faces. So, since then Star has been the king of the house (pet-wise anyway ). Now that the wedding is over, we are going to get another cat. I want a kitten since I think it will adjust better if it's younger. But I'm not sure how Star is going to act. He's going to have to get used to having other pets around (Todd wants us to have 2 cats and 2 dogs eventually), but I've been kinda dragging my feet on getting the new kitten.

Eoywin

October 6, 2006

Do you have a flag?

This week

Argh, it's been a crappy week. Sort of. Mostly due to this damn cold. I hate being sick. It makes me mad to be sick. I don't know how to stop getting angry about it, but I wish I could. I think that if I spent my mental energy concentrating on getting better rather than perpetuating my foul mood I might recover more quickly. I am the whiniest, rottenest, most annoying sick person you've ever met. But! At least it's starting to go away. Probably by next week I'll be fine. And next week is more important than this week because next week it's my birthday. Ye gods, 35 years old. Holy crap. Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that I was 25? It sure seems like it. I remember once when I was little complaining to my dad that time goes so slow (when you're little the time just drags on and on until the fun things happen), and he got this funny smile on his face and said something like, "When you get older, it'll go by a lot faster." As usual, Daddy was right. One of the things that bugs me about being this old is that I have just started to realize that I can say things like, "Yeah, but that happened 20 years ago" to my friends from high school. Twenty years ago. TWENTY. I'm starting to remember 30 years ago with increasing clarity. I don't feel old when I look in the mirror, or even when I overhear teenagers talking and their inane conversations drive me up the wall. I always thought that would make me feel old, when I realized that I didn't have anything in common with teenagers any more. But nope, that's not it. It's that I used to feel like I had so much of life ahead of me. Now there's a huge swath BEHIND me, 35 years' worth... that's what gets to me. Don't get me wrong, looking back doesn't make me feel like I regret anything. I might not have the life I imagined I'd have, but it's pretty damn good. In fact as I've gotten older I've taken care of myself better -- I actually look better now than when I was 28. I'm definitely more financially comfortable. And I'd like to think I'm wiser, too. All in all not too shabby. Anyhoo, enough of that. Mostly I wanted to write about my week, so I don't know how I ended up with that birthday-related nostalgia. This week, I submitted two more Trick or Treat pleas. I was really hoping to be able to do four, and hopefully (maybe) get all the different ones, or at least have something to swap for any I didn't get. But it doesn't look like I'm going to be able to afford one more submission before the deadline. Alas! I keep telling myself I have too much perfume oil as it is -- I need to do a serious reduction of my collection. But I've been at this BPAL thing for 8 months now, and the oils are still coming in at a much faster rate than they're going out. The good news is that I haven't been buying from eBay in quite a while; mostly I'm just ordering from the Lab. The bad news is that the reason I don't want to buy any of the older scents is because I've already tried nearly all of them. And now I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Good night!

filigree_shadow

October 6, 2006

My cat

My husband's cat is still not venturing out of the room- not often. When she does, my cat immediately chases her back under our bed... and she runs. There's no fighting back. Today he told me that we're probably going to need to get rid of one. Being who he is, he presented it as us needing to get rid of his cat. The cat he flew in from Tennessee. The cat he loves. And I just can't let him do it. It's cruel to keep this going on, so one of them does need to go- or they just need to go at it, but we haven't been able to instigate that. I love my cat. LOVE. And I don't know of anybody who can take her. I don't know what I'm going to do without her. Why does everything shift to bleak in an instant like that?

October 5, 2006

Eoywin's Blog

More wedding pictures

A couple more pictures - from our reception this time:

Eoywin

October 4, 2006

Eoywin's Blog

Some Wedding Pictures

Eoywin

October 3, 2006

The doods make me laugh!

If you've read my blog before, this is hardly news to you, but to anyone who might have happened to stumble into here for the first time, I have an insanely annoying coworker. The only way we maintain sanity is to vent at each other via email. Fortunately, we have a relatively good sense of the absurd, and my other colleagues can be quite hilarious. Here's an example of some of vents that are just too funny not to share. If you can use them at your workplace, be my guest, steal our snarks: First, a rant of mine. I titled the note "I Must Document This Process:" The way that she is eating whatever foodstuff is on her desk sounds like this: Imagine people were bobbing for apples, except that they were supposed to suck them up out of the water rather than biting at them. There would be some really intense air intake and schlurping. Then there would be a lot of coughing due to the schlurped water, and nose blowing due to the schlurping and coughing. Now, imagine that they were bobbing for caramel apples, and once an apple was snagged, the caramel became stuck to their tongue and the roof of their mouth. Lots of smacking. To get relief from their intense effort, they'd take a huge swig of a tasty beverage, make that weird little gluggy noise that happens when there's too much liquid heading down the gullet, slam down the glass and exclaim: "AHHHHHHH!" -------------- Me: Sometimes, I swear, I listen to her and think of Louis Armstrong. Coworker: I see skies of blue and clouds of white The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night And I think to myself, what a wonderful world why do I have to sit here and listen to her. ------------- Annoying person is on a low carb diet, and announces it frequently: Me: I am going to sit back here and munch my ass off on my carb-laden crackers. Coworker: When she gets on that kick (OK, every day of her life!!) it just makes me want to sit there and eat an entire loaf of bread. ------------ Me: Here's my horoscope for today. Good grief! Daily Overview for September 08, 2006 Provided by Astrology.com Quickie: Extend a kind hand to the people in your life who use anger to hide their sadness. Overview: An extra dash of sensitivity will help your day run much more smoothly, especially when it comes to some bossy or moody types in your immediate vicinity. They may even return the favor in the near future. Coworker: Haven't your heard???? The horoscopes have been all screwed up since the damned astronomers decided to boot Pluto from the planetary alignment. Don't MESS with mother nature!!!!! I rechecked Yahoo for your Pluto-adjusted horoscope. It reads: Quickie: Extend a kind hand to Wield a meat clever against the people in your life who use anger to hide their sadness. Overview: An extra dash of sensitivity cutlery will help your day run much more smoothly, especially when it comes to some bossy or moody types in your immediate vicinity. They may even return the favor remain quietly in their cubicle in the near future. ---------------------- Me: Isn't she a delicate thing? Coworker: ----------------delicate…….like a thorn in your retina. ---------------------- In addition to being on a low-carb diet, the annoying one has a Labrador Retriever that is the most of whatever you're talking about -- bigger, smarter, horribly-behaved, best-behaved, toughest, wimpiest... it doesn't matter, because as one of the guys in the office wrote: My dog's bigger than your dog, My dog's bigger than yours, My dog's bigger than your dog, Because he's been on this low carb diet to try to lose some weight, don't you know, but it's just so hard, it's just---so---hard…..and he just can't seem to stick with it…..he likes the cottage cheese, but all that other low carb yucky stuff he just spits out and runs off to eat a bag of chips or a bowl of popcorn or a loaf of Wonder Bread or an entire angel food cake or a pie (he just loves pie) with lots of high carb sugar in it; he won't even eat meat loaf unless it has Grape Nuts or oatmeal filler in it; sometimes he'll eat some of that low carb yicky stuff, but then it just goes all to hell because he'll just run off to his dog house (he has a really cool dog house, you know) and drink a bunch of beer and eat a couple of bags of Cheetos and a big pile of French fries smothered with a huge mountain of mashed potatoes and then he gets all depressed and refuses to go to obedience class and just lays around thinking about carbs; it's hard, it's just--so--hard, it's just--so--very--very--hard; but, My dog's bigger than your dog, My dog's bigger than yours, My dog's bigger than your dog, So to hell with everybody in South Beach!

October 3, 2006

Overload

I am a swapping fiend. I'm getting back on track with the GC swap- except for reviews! I took a chance on Baobahn Sith and swapped for 4 decants, and... I really don't like it. It's so floral! I also swapped for a couple of imps of Baghdad recently, and I'm disappointed in that one too! The one I got was full of glorious almond, and one of these has a breath of that memory, and the other one smells like sandalwood. I know they must all be different ages, but I really wish I had the almond one. I think I need to find an almond scent to soothe my soul. Actually, I think I'm set on scents. I don't think I need to find any new ones. I want to try my hand at beading this weekend. But I really need to clean out my car. I was neurotic about anything being left in it until recently. Having two men who regularly ride in it in addition to school stuff has made me careless. I do not want my car to be dirty inside. I need to get to knitting, as well. Things are starting to come together with my switch witchery package. I think it'll be pretty neat, but I don't know what she'll think of it. I am eagerly anticipating the round where I get to spoil my switchee the way I've been spoiled these three rounds. Until then, I'll make do with what I've got. I'm considering selling some of my bottles off so I can get in on the inquisition. My sweet husband has promised that I can do the next one, but the treat scents look so incredible. I know. I'm all Ms. Grabby-hands. Gotta have it! I just love how spoiled BPAL makes me feel. I had no idea that the recipe Lost For Words was lost! It smells fantastic. Anyone know what the notes are? I'm coming up blank. I think I'm going to postpone writing my psych paper until tomorrow morning. I started it already, I just need to finish it up. Give it a quick polish and whatnot. I'm thinking he might be gone again. Class was cancelled today. Which I believe means there won't be a quiz tomorrow. This is good news! I've been awful about studying. And I need to go back to the gym. Wow, this is a long entry. I just have a lot to say, I suppose. I need to find all my imps and put them away before they get scattered and I lose important ones. I'm swapping Manhattan away for Devil's Night, which rocks because I swapped for an imp of last year's version, and it smells amazing on me. Now I just have to wrangle a swap for Pumpkin Queen. Eh. I don't need the inquisition this time. I'll live, and be durn happy with the wonderful things I do have. I'm in a pretty good mood. That's kinda cool!

October 3, 2006

Diplomatka

Danger?

I just heard that there were two bombings this morning. Rather than being concerned, here I am still working on a project design. I was thinking the other day how I have totally become desensitized to what is happening around me. I rationalize that the bombings are only targeting the military or the government, not me. It is a strange strategy of acceptance and I wonder if it will change once I leave. I really hope so. (I totally work with those two guys in the last panel!)

Confection

October 2, 2006

This Old Snark

Phase Inn

Snarky has been back for a week now, but she can't seem to get the floaty boat feeling out of her head. Add to that the continued "hit-the-ground-runningness" of her new job (which she is really starting to enjoy despite its ability to snatch the hours and days right from underneath her like a neat card room trick) and she just can't seem to find the time to re-establish her online persona. She's also been feeling a bit Garbo lately too. Still, she's going to make an effort to get back in to the swing of things. And where words might be slow in trickling back into the well for her, Snarky always has more pictures! First day out to sea. The Hitler Bangs are Dead. Long live the Bangs of Indeterminate Length and/or Direction! DarkityBro soaking up the sun (and being spied upon by his older sister). The DarkityRents are also cute whilst evading the pesky paparazzi. Many moons ago Snarky spent a semester studying ancient Mayan architecture. The Chichen Itza ruins include the main temple (El Castillo) which does a neat trick every Equinox. The Snarks where there a day early. Damn you Murphy, and your stupid Law! It was still an impressive site (and sight), even if the government no longer allows tourists to scramble at their own peril up the steep temple stairs. Mostly besides the sights and sounds, there was The Food. Oh sweet honey in the rock, was there Food. Snarky will need to make a whole separate post just to discuss the heirarchy and humongousness of The Food. But for now... she's slinking back into her cave to play with some sticks and string. It up and got all Autumnal before she even realized it. Perfect knitting weather!

darkitysnark

October 1, 2006

Drama

I know I'm not always the most tactful person in the world, but why do people have to be rude? And why do they have to perpetuate drama? It frustrates me to see the forum degenerate into name-calling and snide remarks masked in smilies. Delivering an insult with a smile is still an insult, and is often more offensive that way. I understand wanting to have the last word, but you don't always need it. Go vent about it elsewhere. Start a blog. Do whatever you need to do, but work it out. Stop campaigning for your cause, because nobody cares. I don't agree with everyone, and I get my hackles up if I feel insulted (which has happened once, and I did react really harshly.) or protective of a friend, or both. But sometimes just let it go. The forum isn't life or death, and if it is, you really need to see about chilling out. Who am I talking to? That's a good question. (I was just remarking that I hate when people talk like that- rhetorical questions that they immediately answer. I think I saw it on Shark when I mentioned it. Anyway.) If you think I'm talking about you, you probably have good reason to think that, and it's probably true. I'm not talking about one single person, or one single side. Right or wrong, it gets absurd on both sides. Then again, I'm not talking about anyone who is reading my blog, probably. Conflict is a part of life, and how we deal with it says a lot about who we are as people. I'm obviously a little(!!) unbalanced, but I'm trying to work out my flaws there. I don't think people are bad. I just think sometimes you've got to take a step back.

October 1, 2006

cranberry's Blog

Pink Owl 3 rcvd 9-29-06, shipped 10-3

Pink Owl 3 - received 9-29-06 Contents Santo Domingo** - already reviewed Ra** - reviewed Nocturne** - reviewed Dorian** Absinthe** - reviewed Casanova** - reviewed Has no Hanna** - reviewed I need to check but I think that I have imps or bottles of all of these. In that case I can pass this right on. ETA: shipped 10-3 to filigree_shadow

cranberry

September 30, 2006

What Not To Wear

I am especially fond of running across people in relatively odd get-ups. Outfits that are vaguely off rarely mean much to me; instead, I'm talking things that don't even fit in the fashion faux pas category because you don't know where to begin. Things that are almost mind-bendingly odd, because they are being worn by a person who is obviously not mentally ill. There is a very distinct difference between mixed-up clothing thrown on by some poor soul who has a lot of personal difficulties and by an otherwise functioning individual whose innate style compass has become seriously skewed. It's one of those weird autumn days when you just don't know what to wear; it's sunny, but only about 62 degrees and it's windy. Days like today are always a good opportunity to find some weird clothing combos going on, and I saw one when I was walking back into the building after lunch. This woman was evidently out on a late-lunch stroll for a bit of exercise. She had on a long, almost ankle-length skirt that had a design on it that was a cross between a batik print and a tropical print. The background was black and the design was a bright blue. I like black and bright blue together, and it was a nice skirt. But on the top, she had on a casual, sporty, waist-length, zip-up, water-repellent material windbreaker. Some sort of Nike design/lettering on it; the colors were white with baby blue. She had short hair and she was wearing a blue and white visor. On her feet she had blue and white flip-flops. The pretty skirt drew me in and then the picture became oddly distorted. But my favorite weird combination is one I saw about 4 or 5 years ago; it was again about this time of year, but it was a cool and rainy day. I was walking downtown on my lunch hour and looked across the street as I waited at a light. There was a woman in a sort of Laura Ashley-style skirt, long, fluttery, a cream-colored background with a tiny rosy flower print. Suntan-colored hosiery. (Arghblargh! Maybe that's what Andy Garcia caught sight of at the end of "Ocean's Eleven?") Cream-colored, 1980's style pumps that were looking a smidge rugged. But on top of all of this, she wore a black NASCAR pit crew jacket. And the jacket was boldly emblazoned with the team sponsor logos, most prominently, Tide detergent soap. I think there was at least one beer logo, and maybe Slim Jims jerky snacks. I know all of this in detail, because the woman had her head down as she walked into the wind and misty rain, so she didn't see me when I stared at her as I walked by, and then when I turned around and walked backwards to check out the back of the jacket. I mean, wow. It's my favorite of all time. If she'd had on black leather pants and biker boots, the jacket would have been fine. If she'd had on a huge Irish sweater, I would have forgiven the '80's pumps. (Suntan colored hosiery is something that I never forgive. White legs are a far, far better thing, and actually make sense with a Laura Ashley theme.) The combination was, and still remains, unprecedented. So, the guy at Meadowlark who always tells me he loves me, the one who said his name means "Wandering Gypsy" in Czech and calls me "gypsy girl?" He just put out an album. I am serious; it's a small local recording company. They're selling his CD at Meadowlark and he saw me this morning and cajoled me into buying one. Here is something from his liner notes: "A special thanks to all the girls I have known, starting with my Mother, for giving me such great material for my songs. And to all the guys, remember that you need more than a good line and a lure to get the girl of your dreams. I love you all." And amazingly, his CD isn't bad at all. So if you've read this far and you're the first reader to respond, I'll send you his CD. Not my copy, I'll buy another one! There may be a lot of you thinking, oh my hell, I am so NOT responding until someone else reads halfway through the blog and decides to respond about bad clothing combinations! So really, if you don't want his CD, just say so, because I do want to hear about bad clothing combos that you have seen in your life and time. I love you all.