urban earth mother

Sling # 1 Finished!

2011-07-11T08:50:00.003-04:00

The rings for the new baby sling arrived on Friday. For some reason I was thinking that one ordered them singly (which would not really make sense) so when I ordered two of each color I was actually ordering two pairs of each. This is not a problem as I planned to make us two slings each anyway.

This is the fabric I bought. I had already ordered purple rings so went for something with some purple in it. It's a heavy cotton/linen, that actually seems like it might be a bit much now that it's made (another reason I'm making several.) As it happened, we were doing laundry on Friday so I had this in the dryer when the post arrived with the rings.

I had to hand sew the last of it as the layers were so thick. I may altar the pattern a bit for future ones to make that easier. Once it was finished, I threaded it, tried it on and had to make sure it would work for carrying. Who says cats aren't my first babies!

When I was finished with the sewing machine, Spouse decided to take it for a spin and learn it's action.

Since he'll be making the cloth nappies, it was a good chance for him to get used to the machine. It was just some scrap fabric, but he got to see what it was capable of and then went on a hunt for nappy patterns. One suggested buying flannel shirts at the Goodwill as it makes the nicest outer layers. Since we have a Goodwill just down the street, this sounds great to us. Next step: sourcing diaper pins!

Sew What

2011-07-06T11:04:00.000-04:00

I've not been sewing at all. All my grand schemes of homemade maternity and baby clothes are as dust. But I did find something easy to make that might get me inspired! A Baby Sling!

Spouse and I are pretty much on the same page in terms of how we're going to care for this upcoming child and baby wearing is part of that. However, there are several different types of slings and other carriers out there, none of them cheap, and how do we know which kind we'll like? I had been gravitating toward ring-adjusted slinks like the Maya and lo and behold they have a pattern to make your own on their site! I've gone ahead and ordered two sets of rings and now need to hit the fabric shop!

In other pregnancy-related news, I keep waiting for that nesting instinct to kick in where all I want to do is clean. I've done some random cleaning, like scrubbing the cupboard doors in the middle of the night, but that's mainly because I can't sleep because of RSL and start to get bored. I think I'll scrub the floor the next night I'm up (probably tonight). If I make a nice list of things that actually need cleaning, I might have a spotless home. Not that I'll really appreciate it since I'm a bit of a zombie from sleep deprivation (I know, get used to it. But honestly, babies actually do sleep more than 2-4 out of 24 hours, which is what my nights have been like)

Spouse has been pestering me to start baking bread again. We've been running out a lot and I just haven't been motivated. He convinced me that if I prep the dough and set it out to rise before I leave for work, he can take care of the baking before he leaves. Sounds like a plan to me! I might even slip in some nice risen sweet rolls in the mix so he can have a treat to take out of the oven as well.

News from the homefront

2011-06-04T12:47:00.002-04:00

Greetings! As you can see, I'm not the only thing growing here. I planted some basil seeds in our seed sprouter and they seem to be coming up nicely. With luck we'll actually be able to have some homegrown herbs this year, in spite of our city status. I am going to try to set them outside later so that they can get, hopefully, more light than our living room provides.

And speaking of things what grow, my darling Spouse came home with a huge bag of produce yesterday. There's a group that sells low-cost organic produce at the housing authority where he's working. He didn't want to take any last time they came even though they offered, but this time he gave in. The haul included a very large amount of rhubarb which he took because no one else wanted it. His first thought was a nice crumble. He ended up making three, one of which he gave away. It might not look pretty, but it sure is tasty.

This morning I took a few more spears of rhubarb, because even after three crumbles we still have lots left, and made rhubarb and mixed berry (frozen berries) muffins.

Chopping the rhubarb this morning made me all nostalgic. Fresh rhubarb tastes and smells of springtime to me. I remember having a big bush of rhubarb near the house when I was very young. I don't know if that memory is actually correct, but it feels right and makes me smile.

Sorry I haven't posted

2011-05-02T11:04:00.000-04:00

I haven't been posting here as I've been working on a little side project that just became public. And no, I haven't been sewing as I should but I have at least gotten this pattern cut out

and ready to alter.

I'll need to enlarge the bust quite a bit, but then bring the shoulders back in. Fortunately I bought some Swedish tracing paper which you can actually sew and use as a muslin. Now I just need the motivation to get going! My constant fatigue has subsided now so I should be able to do a little bit before it gets too warm.

Most likely I will be getting my fabric at the new Stitch lounge Gather Here. I KNOW I'll be going there when it comes time to make button holes! My machine doesn't have a button holer and I'm not really good at doing them by hand. I will, of course, be delving into their yarn stores too for soft yarns for a new small body. If I start now I might even finish a receiving blanket! But knowing my procrastination, that sounds like a pipe dream already.

Hello 2011!

2011-01-03T10:42:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

I'm not one to make new year resolutions (you know, because I break them) but may just set myself a new year goal this year. Not weight loss (which is my constant struggle) or exercise (already have Spouse nagging me (because I asked him to) for that) or packing a lunch every day (although I did bring in three days worth of meals today) but sewing.

This year I would like to make one item of clothing per month. The item need not be elaborate, even an accessory could do, but I would like to make use of the expensive sewing machine repairs and this seems rather practical. I may even go all out and finish some of the knit UFOs lurking in the closet as well!

So that's the plan for me. Anyone else have any goals for the new year?

Great site bra find!

2010-11-29T08:39:00.001-05:00

If you wear a bra and lament things like underwires shattering before the rest of the bra has worn out, or just want to try your hand at DIY undies, the Bra-makers Supply site rocks! I haven't yet ordered from them, so I don't yet know what there customer service is like, but that will very soon be remedied.

I spend close to $100 EACH on my bras so not tossing keeping them going is a big concern for me. Now that I've got a working sewing machine, I may try my hand at making my own dainties and save a little money, as well as having custom design.

Shame I don't eat turkey

2010-11-27T18:40:00.001-05:00

Spouse came home from his house-call yesterday with a big black trashbag which he set on the kitchen floor and said, "This is for you." Inside the bag was a 17 pound turkey. Raw. Thawed. Apparently the person he's gone to see had two and they hadn't been kept frozen. One was cooked for Thanksgiving but the other needed to be cooked soon.

Guess what I did today? If you said, "Roasted a Turkey," you would be correct!

A couple years ago I found a 1924 Boston Cooking-School cook book at a flea market in excellent shape and only $12. It's a great reference book if you can get over some of the rather vague instructions. Here is how to roast a turkey (emphasis mine):

Dress, clean, stuff and truss a ten-pound turkey. Place on its side on a rack in a dripping pan, rub entire surface with salt, spread breast, legs and wings with one-third cup butter, rubbed until creamy and mixed with one-fourth cup flour. Dredge bottom of pan with flour. Place in a hot oven, and when flour on turkey begins to brown, reduce heat, and baste every fifteen minutes until turkey is cooked, which will require about three hours.

Reduce the heat from hot to what, not quite so hot? My oven doesn't really have those settings. Plus I found it really hard to get the butter to adhere to the skin. My modification was to use a greater butter to flour ratio and add some fresh sage and rosemary to it (the stems going in the bottom of the pan) and put it under the skin. The skin itself was rubbed with coarse salt and pepper. From a modern cookbook (late 1960s Joy of Cooking) I got the 20 minutes per pound advice. The previous owner of the cookbook had done the calculations for their turkey, including what time time to place it in the oven if they wanted to eat at 3:00 (10:20 if you're interested.)

In the oven

The bird was due to be done at 5:00, but when I got home at 4:00 it was literally falling off the bone. I let it rest and then disassembled it (sorry no pictures) and threw the bones and skin into a stockpot.

A right, proper stock pot

Dinner for tonight will be turkey for spouse, Quorn for me, roast onion. potato and carrot, stuffing and gravy. And a nice pumpkin cheesecake for afters.

Neck and giblets for meat gravy

Thanks for Giving

2010-11-26T16:54:00.001-05:00

We were invited over to a friend's home for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. While bringing a dish wasn't required, I offered and brought a large salad, complete with home made dressing, plus a bottle of wine. Many hours of h'ordeuvres, wine, a HUGE meal and dessert later, we were driven home, sated and ready for bed (at least I was ready for bed!) For a wonderful day, I most heartily thank Tim and Susan for hosting, Katherine for bringing us there and Bari and Terry for taking us home.

Like in the US, turkey tends to be a once per year food in the UK, in their case at Christmas. And like here, one of the joys of cooking something so massive is leftovers. Spouse apologized for his presumption, but asked if he could take a little turkey home with him. Given that there was HALF a turkey left in a home with one meat eater, they happily obliged. He was looking forward to turkey sandwiches. "In England," he said, "we have them with sage and onion stuffing. Do we have any?" That last bit directed to me. Yes, they use packaged stuffing in England just like we do here, and no, I do not have any. What we do have at home is bread, sage (fresh and dried), onions, butter, celery, you get the idea.

Bread drying in a hot pan

So while everyone else in the country spent the fourth Thursday in November making stuffing, I made mine on the following Friday. One does hate to follow the crowd.

Cup of tea whilst I cook

I made bread last Saturday and due to being rushed as we were going out to hear (be ushers for) the Brookline Chorus, the bread wasn't quite up to snuff. However, it made wonderful croutons for yesterday's salad, and the basis for today's stuffing.

Butter, celery and onions

A slow cooking dish, even one intended for sandwiches only, was just the activity I needed today. No frantic shopping, just a warm, cozy day at home.

Kitty enjoys warm and cozy too and finds a pile of clothes to groom in

Spouse has gone off to do come computer help, and I'm left in our little home, the scent of sage and onions (and loads of butter) wrapping around me. It smells like comfort and love.

sage, thyme, salt and pepper added

Last night, after coming home we cuddled and remarked how much we loved each other and how happy we were to be making a life together. As I look around our tiny, cluttered apartment, I see home. Spouse has made his mark here, in the midst of so much stuff of mine that was here before him, and it truly seem our space, even if only one we rent. This feeling of comfort and of belonging is what I am thankful for this year.

Happy Thanksgiving and beginning to the long, cold days ahead. May your hearts and homes be full of warmth, light and love.

Red sky at night, sailor's delight

Sunday Dinner

2010-11-15T09:09:00.002-05:00

I didn't get pictures of all of it as by the time everything was cooked I just wanted to sit down and eat. The menu was:
Salad of cabbage, spinach and carrot
Roast Quorn with Roasted potatoes
Mushy peas
Yorkshire pudding
Bread with homemade butter
Steamed pudding with custard

Peas soaking

Potatoes await their fate

Another gorgeous loaf of bread

Fruit was leftover booze-soaked fruit (kept in the freezer) from the Christmas pudding

With Custard

A Little Bread Before Bed

2010-10-26T22:24:00.000-04:00

Just out of the oven

Out of the pan

First steaming slice with homemade butter

Christmas Pudding

2010-10-26T10:04:00.003-04:00

I decided to start the Christmas Pudding early this year. Traditionally it's supposed to be made the Sunday before Advent (Stirring Up Sunday), but since they are meant to be aged, and Advent means nothing to me, I opted to do it earlier to let it mellow.

The first step was chopping 2 cups of mixed fruit and letting it soak overnight in alcohol. Sherry, port, rum or brandy are typically used, but I had none of those! I used a combination of whiskey, Grand Mariner, sweet vermouth and a splash of absinthe.

Greased pudding basin and fruit soaked in booze

Another old tradition is to place a silver coin in the pudding before steaming. Good luck comes to the person who finds it on their plate. A thuppence (three-penny coin) or sixpence was traditionally used, but these coins disappeared with the switch to decimal currency in 1973. As luck would have it for us, downtown Boston is chock-a-block with various collectibles shops and we bought about a half dozen assorted coins from WWII this weekend, including two sixpence pieces.

Sixpence in boiling water to sterilize it

I've made steamed puddings a lot over the years, even a couple of Christmas puddings, so I didn't really need a recipe. That said, I took this butter-based one and used it as a jumping off point.

Dry ingredients

One spice I hadn't used before was mace. While not all my spices match the recipe (I like to add cardamom) I did stick with the mace and think I may have over-spiced it a bit, but that should be remedied by the aging.

Sixpence waiting to be covered with more batter

Four hours covered in a pot of simmering water and it was done.

Finished pudding ready for aging

I poured an ounce of dark rum on it tonight and wrapped it tightly. It will get more rum every fortnight or so until Christmas when it will be served flaming with brandy butter on the side.

Sewing a new skirt for Autumn

2010-10-12T09:03:00.001-04:00

My sewing machine has been repaired and cleaned and works very nicely. I had so much fabric let over from the six-gore skirt that I decided to go all out and do a skirt without a pattern.

I really, really want one of these Vivien of Holloway Pinafore skirts, but a) they're kind of expensive, and b) they don't come in my size. So, what's a girl to do? Well, they look like straight skirts with some darts for shaping, an extra high waist and straps added on. That shouldn't be too hard, right?

Well it took longer than I thought simply because I managed to throw my back out and sitting for long periods of time hurt too much. I eventually made myself start it on Saturday so I could wear it to a wedding on Sunday. The straps originally went over the shoulders straight, but I had cut them too long and my sloped shoulders enabled them to slip down constantly. After we got back from the wedding on Monday, I took the straps off in the back and crossed them over.

The straps are far more stable now and actually fit! The skirt itself could use some tweaking, but since no pattern was used, I think it's a good effort over all.

Here's the front:

More on the sewing front

2010-10-07T13:20:00.004-04:00

Well, the sewing machine needed some work after all so I sent it in for repairs and a replacement motor. $200+ later, it's home and I did get to use it. Here is the skirt I made:

It actually didn't come out all that great so I think I'll be taking it apart and redoing the seams. Still it came together quite quickly and got me inspired.

I'll be working on a new project this week (hopefully tonight) and will write more, with pictures) once that's underway.

Bounty

2010-07-02T16:51:00.004-04:00

Here are some photos of what I've been up to. First up is a stack of sub-par crumpets (they ended up more like pancakes, but are okay toasted) next to the tub of homemade butter

Of course they were much nicer combined

Next up on the breakfast menu is homemade yogurt with the last of the blueberries from Tuesday's market

And finally, the results of my trip to the Friday farmer's market in Copley Square

You can't even see everything! From left to right we have:
two balls of mozzarella (and notice my mozzarella kit lurking in the back)
Bag of tomatoes
The carrots and French radishes seem to be completely covering the pickling cucumbers and green beans
Small bag of plums in front of the carrots
Bag of English peas
Sourdough baguette
Basil and dill
Two small tubs of goat cheese with olive oil and herbs de Provence and a log of plain goat cheese
Jar of strawberry jam

I spent a ton of money, but looking at all of this wonderful food, I think it's worth it. You really can't beat fresh, real food and the price reflects the actual effort that goes in to growing, making (okay, not the $9 package of 2 cups of granola I saw, but certainly the cheese) and bringing to market all of this bounty.

Bon Apetit!

Where has the time gone?

2010-07-01T10:25:00.004-04:00

I'm such a bad blogger (and I seem to say that a lot.) I've been working on things in the kitchen which I should have mentioned, bought new (old) clothes, and even started looking for a place to call our own.

On the Kitchen Front (I'll update with pictures later), I tried water bath canning pickles for our family reunion in June. I made beets, spicy garlic sprouts and dilly carrots. It seemed to go well and only two jars didn't seal. The plan is to put up a few market crops this summer so we can have them in the dark of winter. this weekend I will be doing beets and possible green beans as I saw some at the Tuesday market.

In other kitchen news, Mother Trucker inspired me to try my hand a yogurt. I found it had a lot of whey separating out, but haven't found the right mix for draining it yet. The second batch drained a bit too much and is almost cheese-like. Fortunately I kept the whey this time and can mix some back in.

Speaking of cheese, all this fermenting got me thinking about making real cheese again. I checked out New England Cheese Making Supply as I've gotten things from them before and they have a very reasonable mozzarella kit which is now on its way to me. If that goes well I will try again to make a cheddar, or perhaps go for their hard cheese kit and make some others.

The last of the dairy trifecta is butter. I've never understood how someone can accidentally make butter. I have never whipped cram beyond the fluffy stage myself, but this morning I went for it. I used two pints of heavy cream, left out in a covered bowl overnight, and whipped with a hand mixer it on low until it passed whipped cream and separated into fat (butter) and liquid (buttermilk). This is when some butter muslin would have come in handy, but I seem to be out (although more is on order with the cheese kit.) After you've gotten the separation, you need to drain the buttermilk off, which I did with a fine mesh strainer. You then kneed the butter in cold water to rinse out any remaining buttermilk, draining the water when it becomes cloudy. I packed it into a small container and popped it in the fridge, but will probably have to drain off some water when I get home. The butter I licked off my hands was delish!

This weekend should be much cooler than the past few weeks so I should be able to bake some things to top with all of this lovely butter. The plan is to finally start my peapod wine as well, which will clear out a lot of freezer space currently holding pods. I've never made wine before, so this should be an adventure!

That's all for now. Ill update this when I get home with some pictures of the things I've made.

The machine works!

2010-02-02T14:22:00.004-05:00

I replaced the belt on the sewing machine last night, fired it up and she works a treat! I still haven't oiled anything yet, but I'm already planning a real, non-hankie project. I just ordered this skirt from Davenport and Company in Springfield. Fantastic email customer service by they way if you ever decide to order anything.

This looks like it should be easy enough for me to muck about with using whatever fabric I can find around the house before I go buy something nice.

The next project I'm contemplating is a vintage jumper with an Ubuntu logo embroidered on it for spouse. That will probably take a while though, and I still have a few other things to finish first. I promise I'll get the pictures of the tea cozies I made over Christmas plus the one I'm working on now.

Look what I got!

2010-01-30T14:30:00.004-05:00

Hey, kitty, what's in the box?

Looks interesting. Could it be...

Oh yeah! Sewing machine from the over-priced used furniture place next door! I didn't even haggle as it was only $30 and at least mostly works (we were only able to test the peddle in the shop.)

First order of business, after cleaning it up a bit, will be to take the old, ripped sheets and make hankies. Yea! New toy!

Welcome 2010

2010-01-01T15:35:00.001-05:00

2009 was not a great year round our place, but now we can start fresh. I think I should learn to sew this year.

New baby, new sweater

2009-09-21T09:48:00.003-04:00

It's been ages since I updated!. This is just a quickie to show off the sweater I'm making for SIL's baby due in November. I never made anything for the new niece in California when she was born in March, so that will be the next project. If I haven't burned out from getting back in the swing with knitting, then the things for the nephews will be forthcoming as well.

But on to the current project! I'm making the hooded version of Daisy from Knitty.com.

As you can see, I've nearly finished one side and am halfway through the back. Since it's for an infant, it's pretty fast going. Plus it's a dead easy pattern so I can knit on the T in the morning when I'm half asleep.

That's it for now. More when I'm further along on this project.

Picnic in the Park

2009-08-08T20:09:00.010-04:00

Spouse wanted to have a picnic tonight, but since we had no picnic basket, I balked. Goodwill to the rescue! He found a never-used (tag still on, utensils still sealed) basket with plates, cups and utensils. So I prepped a meal and off we went to Dorchester Heights with a blanket and food.

Here is Spouse relaxing before the meal.

Me squinting in the sun.

Remains of the meal

Spouse confirms the time of the historical places bike ride he's going on tonight (it's midnight-6am and goes 30 miles)

Getting shoes on to head back down the hill to home

Sunset over Dorchester

And if you're interested, the meal was a caprese salad (tomato, basil and onion all local), oven chips with salt and rosemary (local potato), carrot and leek gratin and cod poached in proseco with rosemary, garlic and lemongrass.

Preparing for Winter

2009-08-07T23:36:00.003-04:00

Spouse wants to have veggies put up this year. He says having food in the cupboards makes him feel secure. Unfortunately it's not a good tomato year what with the blight, but we're thinking of at least having pickles (especially since he ate the last of the cucumber refrigerator pickles this morning.)

So my mission for the rest of the growing season will be to gather and properly can things. I'm thinking cucumber pickles, pickled green beans and picked beets. If I can get some tomatoes at a decent price, I'll put a couple of jars of those up too. Brandied peaches seem to be calling my name as well, but they have so much sugar. Maybe I could substitute larger quantities of brandy to preserve them *hic* Ponder.

Hi, Mom

2009-08-04T23:34:00.001-04:00

You know, just because I know you read this :)

Soup is good food

2009-07-28T12:00:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I picked up some heirloom tomatoes at the farmers' market with a plan for summer soup. I fear the blight will make tomatoes scarce and expensive later this summer, so I thought I'd try this out while I had the chance (gone is the day when the non-heirlooms went on sale at the market for $1/lb!).

In spite of the heat, I decided to roast the tomatoes. I quartered (or sixthed if they were larger) them and placed cut side down on an oiled baking sheet an broiled for 15 minutes until the skin was partially blackened. While that was going on, I threw some sliced onion (also from farmers' market) in a pan to soften and partly caramelize. I removed about a third of the onion and then added the tomatoes, chopped, and some jarred roasted red peppers. About a cup tomato and some red pepper was left aside. The last thing to go in were a few big cloves of garlic I fished out of my pickle jar (did I mention I made pickles last week?) and set it all to simmer until flavours mingled and garlic softened. Poured soup into blender and puréed, then poured back into pot with reserved veg. A splash of light cream to bring it all together and it was ready to serve! Soup was served with fresh Thai basil and mozzarella on top with crusty bread on the side.

Sadly, I can't find my digital camera so was only able to take film pictures. If any come out (I'm still having issues winding my own film to develop) I'll scan them in and edit this post.

New Camera!

2009-06-11T18:51:00.004-04:00

This is totally random, but I just bought a new camcorder and had to test it as soon as I got home. Here's a video of my cat Barnaby. Ignore the lame commentary.

Spouse is Home!

2009-06-02T21:58:00.002-04:00

And he looks even skinnier! He said he had to hold his pants up going through security because they made him take off his belt. During his 4 hour layover in Paris, he left the airport and did a whirlwind tour of the city which included buying me a croissant. Do I have the best spouse or what? We ate it in Logan before getting a cab home.

It's so nice to have him back.

Cinnamon Buns

2009-05-23T16:55:00.002-04:00

Spouse is flying off to Spain tonight for 10 days. This seemed to inspire some nesting instinct, prompting me to make two dozen maple-glazed cinnamon buns. What the hell am I going to do with all of these?

Spouse has gone off to give four of them to a sick friend. My stepfather is staying over tonight after the Sox game so we can have some for breakfast before we head up to Vermont tomorrow. I think I'll freeze four or six and just bring the rest up to Vermont to make other people fat.

But boy do they look, and taste good!

Good to know

2009-05-20T22:39:00.002-04:00

Created by Recipe Star

More gardening

2009-05-07T14:47:00.003-04:00

We started planting yesterday. All the seeds we had went in and we're waiting on the tomatoes and cukes to grow in the greenhouse and some potatoes and flowering herbs are on their way.

Here one of the students plants some nasturtium seeds in a corner plot. Two mounds for pumpkins and decorative gourds also went into the corners (two opposite corners. the potatoes and peas go in the other two corners) and the flowering herbs will be placed there too. The rest of the crops will be:
kale
mesculin greens (I didn't check the seed pack, but isn't that a variety of several types of greens?)
basil
oregano
pole beans
parsnips
cilantro
peas

Gardening

2009-05-01T14:33:00.002-04:00

The student environmental group at work asked if we could start a garden. After bringing it to a few people in charge and talking with people who actually garden (none of them do) they got permission and space was allotted. This then became a community project, with anyone allowed to join in. A good thing too since the students don't tend to be around during the summer!

Last week I joined two staff members in one of the campus greenhouses to start some seeds. The garden space had been marked out and there was even a ground breaking ceremony with blessings and everything (I missed all that). Then the landscaping department came in to take up the sod and turn the soil for us. Hooray! Less back-breaking work for us! A garden planner came in to help set what should go where (this is WAY more professional than anything I've ever done in the yard) and then we were all set to get to work

Today I went out and met up with two of the students working on the plot. The plan was to mark off beds and start the planting, but we decided to get the rest of the compost on first. About halfway through doing that, it really started to look like rain so we decided to start marking the corner beds while we could, then save the rest of the compost until after that, but before marking the inner beds. We hadn't gotten the first bed marked before the rain started. So I sat my ass down on the grass and waited from one of them to come back with some scissors to snip the string and let the drips fall down.

We got the four corners marked and I headed back to the office as another student came to join them. The plan was to move the reset of the compost and see what more could be marked off, but planting might have to wait until Monday. Still, work was done and thing looks like it's finally, really happening.

Good Housekeeping

2009-03-05T13:09:00.001-05:00

I have become far too obsessed with the archive of Good Housekeeping at Cornell. I just wish more of the earlier years had indexes. Does anyone remember how to look up subjects in periodicals before the web? I'm almost too embarrassed to ask one of our reference librarians. I haven't looked up things and gone to microfilm (the old way) in decades.

Got (soy) Milk?

2009-03-02T08:51:00.005-05:00

IT took a while to get my hair up decently and the snood pinned down. Fortunately I had an extra four hours this morning since the office wasn't opening until noon.

Snoodtastic

2009-03-01T21:19:00.007-05:00

I managed to finish my snood and it turned out too large and kind of lopsided. Undeterred, I decided to try the second pattern listed using a smaller yarn. It worked out much better!
Here it is from the side in color. It's a charcoal sock yarn I bought to darn my favourite sweater (that I haven't managed to actually do yet.)

And here is my hair all tucked up (and my new cardigan from the Goodwill) with whispies flying everywhere. Sepia toned for your vintage pleasure.

And the side again

And for reference of just how much hair I'm hiding under there (and how copper it is right now):

Chips, Sausage and Mushy Peas

2009-02-20T20:24:00.004-05:00

Spouse gives his opinion on the dinner

I put the chips on a preheated cookie sheet in a very hot oven right after they drained and they were much crispier! I think Ill try the double frying next (which sounds like how you do plantains) and see which method I like best. The oven one seems like it might be easiest though, but two swims through hot fat sounds tastier.

Snoody McSnoodster

2009-02-18T09:34:00.001-05:00

I made a snood last week using this vintage pattern but still need to put the elastic in. I'll take pics of it on and my hair done when I've got it ready for prime time. Snoods work up really quickly. I think if I like how it looks on me, I'll make a few more as a stash-busting project. They go quicker than the kids' toys (that I have no picture of :( ) I made for the nephews.

I seem to be in a Pinter play all the time

2009-02-08T14:43:00.005-05:00

Interior apartment, afternoon
Me: There's still bread. You should eat some.
Spouse: What?
Me: Bread. There's bread.
Spouse: You want me to eat some bread?
Me: Yes, I'm hawking bread at you. You don't have to eat the small piece. I'll use that in meatballs.
Spouse: What?
Me: Meatballs.
Spouse: Oh. Meatballs.
Me: There's granola too.
Spouse: How much ingredients are left.
Me: I used all the flakes but there's lots of fruit (holds up containers of dried fruit)
Spouse: Lots of fruit left.
Me: Yes, it will be good for hot cereal.
Spouse: What?
Me: Cereal. Hot cereal. Porridge, Cream of Wheat.
Spouse: Oh.
Me: You know, the longer we live together, the more we sound like Pinter characters. You know, how the dialog is always stilted, and people talk over each other.
Spouse: (raising foot) Pull my foot.

Yes, I swear this conversation happened today (hell, every day). It was actually longer, but would probably work better on stage than page.

You want what for dinner?

2009-01-28T20:57:00.004-05:00

I came home tonight, through the freezing rain and ice and puddle-filled sidewalks, and pondered dinner. Spouse said he wasn't feeling great (headache) and wasn't that hungry but I asked him what he wanted and ran down a list of things we had: sausages, Quorn fillets, cabbage, potatoes, baked beans. He said sausage, beans and chips would be fine. Excuse me? Chips? Did I at any point mention chips? No, I didn't, but I did say potatoes and to an Englishman that's just chips-in-the-raw.

Well, I wasn't opposed to a bit of a challenge tonight, so I pulled out the old Fanny Farmer again. It failed me on boiling eggs on a modern range, but I figured something involving deep frying had to be easier. Scrub, slice, soak, boil, cool, dry, fry. Easy-peasy.

How do you make crispy chips? Can anyone tell me this? Everything seemed to go well, and they tasted great (spouse: Ooo! It smells lovely! Me: That's hot fat.) but were soggy. I drained them and kept them in a hot oven while I did the several batches, but even right out of the fat they were kind of soggy. Spouse said they were like what one makes in England, so I don't think it was an issue of the potato variety (I used Russet as we don't have King Edward), so maybe it was fat temperature? I really don't know.

Still, this was my first chip (fry, French-fried potato, whathaveyou) making experience. The Englishman approved, so I guess it was a success.

Make-do and Mend

2009-01-11T16:57:00.003-05:00

I feel like such a slug today for having stayed in my jammies (nightie and bed jacket set, actually, that I picked up at the vintage shop the day before the big job loss). I put a skirt and coat on over them when I had to go out to buy cat litter!

Although I have technically done things today. I finally sat down to start ending my winter coat (vintage swing coat bought about 3 years ago) since both armpits have torn and the lining is just a mess. I managed to fix the pits and some of the lining, but am putting of the really long seaming until next week. I'm hand-sewing, so it's a big production.

After I'd finished the first arm, spouse called me in to the office to remind me to put up his dry-erase board. He just bought it yesterday to help him plan (he's a big note taker) and asked me to put it up since I am Keeper of the Drill. He bought me the drill the Christmas before we married (to shocked looks in the family when I opened it) and I don't get much chance to use it. Yes, he could have easily put the board up himself, but was nice enough to offer me the task so I could use my tools. What a nice spouse!

Oh, did I mention the marmalade made from the left-over clemetines? Yeah, that's simmering on the stove right now, soon to go in to sterilized jars (I'm canning). We're not a big jam household, but I couldn't let those thing go to waste. It tastes very different from proper marmalade made from Seville oranges, but it's not bad now that I've added everything under the sun to it (pureed dates for sugar, some Cointreau for more orange flavour, frozen peaches that were lurking in the freezer.) I think it will make a nice toast topper and perhaps filling for a Victoria Sponge. And I was doing my roots with half of the last bit of henna in the house while all this was happening.

On the rationing front (Home Front?), I've gotten our rationing amounts for the first three weeks. I decided that Week 1 would be 1940, Week 2 1941, etc. There was some fluctuation during the years, especially with the sugar ration. I'm not too worried about that one though since we don't use much to begin with, and it's something I tend to buy in bulk anyway. For Week 1, we are each allowed to purchase the following:
Butter 2 oz +2 oz marg
bacon OR ham 4 oz
sugar 8 oz
meat 1 lb 3 oz or 540 g
tea 2 oz (57g)
cooking fat 2 oz
cheese 2 oz

I've decided that since we can't typically buy 2oz of cheese, (although 4 would be perfectly fine for both of us), if a purchase has to be made that's over the amount for two people, say a pound of butter, that cancels out that item for each of us for future weeks as well. Once we have the ration available again, we can buy it, but not before. For things like meat, that ration can be used for beef or soy "beef" (seitan, Gimmee Lean beef, etc), the same goes for bacon. Chicken was not rationed, but often not available, the idea being that you could raise your own. I think I will try to use an equal ration amount for chicken (or vegetarian equivalent for me) a a pound of actually chicken (for spouse) or Quorn (for either of us) tends to last us at least a week anyway.

The ration week went from Sunday to Sunday, so I'm just beginning now. I have a spreadsheet of ration points, but need to coordinate with spouse so that we don't both buy things that go over our two person allotment. Perhaps a Google spreadsheet just so we both can keep track is in order? I'll post our purchases here as well. For now we're living off things currently in the larder.

Bread

2009-01-10T23:37:00.003-05:00

I've taken to baking bread lately. Spouse lost his job yesterday, so we're looking into budgeting better and the bread would be a good way to economize. It *would* be if we didn't eat all of it in one sitting!

The first batch I made started with a sponge made with commercial yeast, but I kept some back to feed to have a starter around regularly. It' had a bit more commercial yeast put in, but mainly it's running wild now. The starter, plus slow risings is giving wonderful results and tonight's bread was the best so far. I made them in a three loaf baguette pan, but the oven was to steamy to get a really crisp crust.

Baguettes, of a sort
1 cup starter
1 cup warm water
1 cup flour
Mix and let sit over night
In the morning, add:
1 cup warm water, into which has been dissolved sugar cube and 1/2 T salt
3 cups flour (more if needed)

Mix to form a ball and kneed until it starts to feel elastic. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise 2-3 hours. Knock down and let rise again for 2 hours.

Kneed out air bubbles, divide dough into three lumps. Form loaves by pressing dough into a flat oblong, less than the length of the bread pan. Begin on one long side and tightly roll dough into a big snake-like thing. Place on greased baguette pan and repeat with remaining two bits of dough. Cover and let rise for an hour.

Preheat oven to 475 (F) and place a pan of water on lowest rack. Once oven is heated, slash tops of loaves three or four times and spray with water. Place bread in oven for 20-25 minutes. After bread is done, turn off oven and let bread sit for further 5 minutes.

I should add that whenever you take out some starter, you need to feed it again to grow more yeast beasties. When I take out a cup, I add anther cup of flour and a cup of water. I still have some commercial yeast (I buy bulk bags o it's not premeasured), so might add a light sprinkle (maybe 1/2 t) to help boot production if I've been making bread often. When I used to do this back in the early '90s, I had about a half gallon of starter in the fridge so never needed to do more than feed it. I've not gotten to that point yet, but hope to work up to it.

Birthday kntting

2008-01-21T20:25:00.000-05:00

I got two books and a knitting bag for my birthday.

The one on the left, Naughty Needles, was from my mom. Go mom! She saw it in a shop in Montreal and thought of me instantly but didn't buy it. So after kicking herself for not getting it, she found it on Amazon and had it sent.

So last night, I made pasties from the book and followed with the g-string today from the website

I tried the pasties on last night to good reviews. Well, one review. I told Spouse there was still some Bailey's left after I put a splash in the custard. He said, "Mmmhmm." and then asked if there was any Bailey's. "Yes. I just said so." "Oh. Did you put some in the custard?" Now honestly, how much more stereotypic husband behaviour could you get? But he justified t when I called him on it with, "I'm sorry, wasn't listening. I was too busy staring at your breasts." Well, at least he's honest.

And in case you're curious, here's what that looked like.

Baby it's cold outside!

2008-01-03T10:32:00.000-05:00

Spouse was numb by the time he got to work and has requested legwarmers. I think I'm going to go for long socks instead, again from Essentials for the Forces. I'll pick up some #1 needles on my way home, but for added warmth I'm going to do them in DK/sport weight that I have kicking around the house. I may even try doing two at once. Wish me luck.

Baby knitting

2008-01-02T15:18:00.000-05:00

Sorry I've not posted in a while. I did manage to finish the Ubuntu bag and will post shots in the next day or so (I was chastised for not doing it). In the meantime, enjoy a shot of completed baby sweater #1 (on completed, but anonymous, nephew).

I finished this one before Thanksgiving and then started another one (both are from One Skein Wonders). The second one, which I do not have picture of, is the Bamboo Baby Sweater, modified to make it larger using bigger needles and double stranding some sport weight wool I had kicking around. My finished on is red and green on the back, red and blue, and green and blue on the front, with green sleeves. I opted for two large buttons to close it since the YO edge was much larger on mine. There are two buttons on the other side as well so it can be closed either way and has a slightly double-breasted look to it. While it turned out nicely, it was a PAIN to make. I frogged that fucker four times! I think the problem was not knowing what parts I was knitting (it's on the diagonal) as the pattern doesn't tell you.

Now I'm finally knitting something for me. I bought yarn for this waistcoat almost a year ago and it's been languishing. Finally started the back last night and it looks like it will be perfect for after I've lost weight. At least I'll have one new item of clothing once I'm a size healthy!

More progress on the bag

2007-09-10T23:10:00.000-04:00

So I haven't been working on the laptop bag lately, but have promised to finish it before beginning other projects. So I brought it to the laundromat and have made good progress on the second side.

I'm halfway through this panel and then only need the sides top and strap! I fear the
finishing will be my downfall, but it may be the one project spouse
leaves me alone to work on (he seems to get jealous when I do things
other than work on the computer next to him).

Knitting as civic duty

2007-08-30T16:43:00.000-04:00

I had jury duty today for the third time. It was my second district court and once again we got let out as none of the cases that day ended up needing us. But this time, I planned ahead and called to see if I could bring my knitting.

So here's the half-felted cloche I made while listening to daytime television for four hours. I actually finished it later because I ended up frogging the whole thing after three inches because it was too wide. Eh, that'll teach me not to do a guage swatch.

The pattern is from One Skein Wonders using yarn I got from someone at work as a winter holiday (hell, choose which one you want to celebrate) gift.

I love summer produce

2007-08-29T22:38:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to hit the farmer's markets as much as possible this summer. It was difficult when my class was going as my favourite Monday market was out, as was Wednesday's. Still, there was always Tuesday.

So this week, being spouse's first week at work, I've been all domestic and making dinner with all this bounty.

Tuesday's market provided peaches (in the paper bag), yellow and green zucchini, green pepper, one scortching hot pepper, beets, and pickling cukes.

The peaches became part of dessert for the night.

A lovely peach custard.

The cukes have made it into my first batch of pickles (excuse the focus issues)

There are only two cucumers in there, so I still have more to experiment with the recipe

Finally! Something I can make with that Alpaca!

2007-08-21T12:02:00.000-04:00

I've been perusing vintage patterns again (as is my wont) and found this little number from 1922. I bought a huge skein of Alpaca a couple years ago and have done nothing with it and think the Fairfield would work well on me. Just imagine a model just as frumpy, but with bigger boobs.

Fist panel done!

2007-08-18T22:13:00.000-04:00

The Ubuntu bag is coming along nicely.

The back is a bit scary right now (appologies for the blur).

It will be better, and some of the holes filled once I've woven ends in and felted.

Tomorrow I start the other side, and then it's just the side panels and top!

I should post the color pattern too, since spouse worked so hard on it. It's 50x50, but I'm doing a bit more MC on the top, as per the original pattern from which I'm getting the dimensions.

Also on the sticks

2007-08-17T12:41:00.000-04:00

Since I can't seem to stick with just one project until it's finished, I started another bag last night while I work on the shopping bag. I decided to do the laptop bag from Stitch 'n' Bitch Nation, but instead of stripes some intarsia. An no, I've never done proper color work before, so this is a challenge.

Here it is with pattern by spouse. Yes, it's going to be an Ubuntu bag. It's a bit wonky, but I'm hoping the felting will help smooth out some of the irregularities.

Here's a more "head on" image which shows the yellow circle a bit better.

This is Lamb's Pride Bulkey on #15 needles, so I should have it done in under a week.

Okay, I have to share

2007-08-13T15:06:00.000-04:00

This is the bag I started this weekend. It's the Everlasting Bagstopper from this month's Knitty.

My options were overexpose it with the flash or have it too dark to see without. I just couldn't bring myself to turn on the overhead lights in the office to really correct it. And yes, the rest of my desk is a mess too.

Instead of hemp, I'm using a cotton from my stash. A friend gave me a HUGE bag of this (plus lots of great wool), and after making a dress, I still have several balls left over. I may make a hat as well just to get rid of the stuff.

It's been over a year

2007-08-13T14:41:00.001-04:00

So I've decided to start this back up again, but as a knitting blog. I've got tons of UFOs around the house, commitments to clear the stash, and one item in the planning stage for spouse. I plan to post some pics of things in progress and recently finished soon (probably later tonight).

No, I don't expect responses (there are many other knitting blogs you could be reading). this is mainly just for me to log my progress and maybe encourage me to finishe things once in a while.

Mainly audio blogging now

2006-03-30T08:50:00.000-05:00

I'm up to 30 episodes on The Day Hell Froze Over. I've only missed two days and that was due to illness (you know you're really sick when talking to yourself is an effort).

Martin has been contributing some too and he said he'd try to get in one full (not a one minute response to a direct question) recording a week. Although he seems behind on that now :)

Second Hell blog

2006-02-27T22:09:00.000-05:00

The second one is up tonight too here

And the RSS, should you wish to subscribe, is http://sexternalharddrive.com/blog.xml. If you're using iTunes, just go to the podcast bit on the side and then click Advanced on the toolbar and Subscribe and pop that URL into the pop-up box.

Naked Listener

2006-02-27T22:03:00.000-05:00

Someone in the Richard Vobes forums suggested listeners doing audio blogs in the same vein as Richard's Naked Englishman, so I have started one. It is called The Day Hell Froze Over and is about my upcoming wedding, the relationship, and related life issues.

The first episode is here and the RSS address is http://sexternalharddrive.com/blog.xml

Looked, leaping

2006-02-03T08:31:00.000-05:00

Martin and I had been talking since November about him coming over here to stay. The big hitch on this is getting him a work permit so we could both work and have proper lives and things while trying out the whole "living together" thing and being a normal couple. Well, I decided on the easier route for that and proposed when I was in England. He accepted and now, fuckin' hell!, we're all planning a wedding and stuff.

It's all very odd.

We're going for something small (hopefully) and with luck we'll be able to webcast it so everyone we've ever met in person or online can "attend" as well. And it suits us and our relationship thus far to do something like that. Our "official" announcement was on The Richard Vobes Radio Show so it's hard to get geekier than that! I guess we could try though. Maybe we could exchange USB hubs instead of rings. Hmm.

A week until England

2006-01-09T13:43:00.000-05:00

I'm going over to see MO next week. I haven't been on a longer trip (more than a couple days) in two years! I'm feeling guilty that he's come here more than I've gone there. Although two visits from him last year were great.

This trip I'm going to try to visit Richard Vobes too. MO got me into the RVRS and I've become a forum junky there too.

I should write more

2006-01-03T12:25:00.000-05:00

Just a thought. I'm still tired of being fat, but even more so after videoing myself walking around the kitchen in my underwear (I'm fat even in a girdle! Great!).

This will probably be the year Martin and I finally move in together, provided I get his CV done so he can look for a job in the States. Rather a scary and strange thing that, but I think I'm ready. I haven't lived with a boyfriend since 1994. I'd like to think I've grown since then (not just around the middle). And I know Martin has grown tremendously in the past year (still not around the middle here).

Getting tired of being fat

2005-08-09T08:20:00.000-04:00

I've decided (no, really, this time I mean it!) to start keeping track of a really balanced diet. I haven't decided how strict I'm going to be yet, but I'll probably do the less strick version I've come up with, which is one week vegan and one vegetarian. I may end up doing vegan all the time except for Sundays (co-op dinners always include a lot of dairy and sometimes egg).

I'm keeping track over at Spherical

London Bombings

2005-07-07T11:31:00.000-04:00

Well that was not a nice thing to wake up to. But Martin's fine, we all heard from PM friend Siege (also fine) and I just got off the phone with my friend James, who just got home. All three of them bike in London instead of taking public transportation. I'm thinking that they're going to be making sure those bikes are tuned up from now on too.

No more Theme Fridays

2005-06-08T12:00:00.000-04:00

Boss Lady cancelled our summer theme Fridays infavor of "casual dress Fridays" (um, isn't the whole summer pretty much casual dress at a university?) and two chair massage sessions.

This sucks.

Okay, chair massages are nice (we used to bring them in more regularly on our own dime), but the theme Fridays have been going for two years now and were a hell of a lot of fun. Sure they often degenerated into afternoon booze fests, but it was Friday! And I had more musical subcultures to exploit! (past two years I chose Punk and Goth as my themes). Grrrr. I guess we'll have to run out and get tanked at the Faculty Club instead. Feh

Spam is Fun!

2005-05-20T10:21:00.000-04:00

I've been getting great pleasure reading the "names" my spam comes from lately. Here's a sample of this week's top names:

Rusty S. Uncomprehending
Minutia P. Reader
Reimposes M. Unhooking
Bolivia J. Apparelling
Directories H. Profiteering
Espying P. Floweriness
Schoolhouse T. Quieting
Leninism T. Mispronounced
Antifreeze K. Destroys
Fleeter I. Blisters
Regulation I. Headsets

Blast from the past

2005-05-08T22:13:00.000-04:00

The phone rings tonight

Is [teru] there?
Speaking.
Here's a blast from the past. St. George and the recliner
OHMYGOD!

It was my friend Jim whom I haven't spoken to in almost ten years! He's doing well and making me glad I don't have a private number as he found me on an after homework web search of old friends.

He was a friend from another lifetime, but one that I always missed when we both moved on. I'm thinking when I do a trip south to see Naz, I need to make a side trip to South Carolina to see him again too. At the very least to read his comic collection ;-)

Although he's up for a speakerphone night of RPG for our games night too.

The Time Traveler Convention

2005-05-02T15:49:00.000-04:00

I really think I should check this out. If not on Saturday, then maybe in a few years :)

What is it?

Technically, you would only need one time traveler convention. Time travelers from all eras could meet at a specific place at a specific time, and they could make as many repeat visits as they wanted. We are hosting the first and only Time Traveler Convention at MIT

Great idea, I'd love to help! What should I do?

Write the details down on a piece of acid-free paper, and slip them into obscure books in academic libraries! Carve them into a clay tablet! If you write for a newspaper, insert a few details about the convention! Tell your friends, so that word of the convention will be preserved in our oral history! A note: Time travel is a hard problem, and it may not be invented until long after MIT has faded into oblivion. Thus, we ask that you include the latitude/longitude information when you publicize the convention.

You can also make an absolute commitment to publicize the convention afterwards. In that case, bring a time capsule or whatever it may be to the party, and then bury it afterwards.

Weird Proposition

2005-05-01T21:20:00.000-04:00

My dad has a roommate, Peter, who moved in (as a tenant) when my dad was getting out of the hospital last lear. At the time, Peter didn't know what he was getting into with an invalid roommate, but they have become fast friends and Peter has helped dad out a lot.

Well, it turns out Peter is coming into a HUGE trust fund soon, but he has no heirs. He can't leave the money in a will, but wants it to go to help people he knows. At 47 he doesn't anticipate marrying and having kids, so he's asked my dad to propose adopting me. No, really.

I didn't say no, but it's such a strange request that I can't say yes. I've only met the guy once, on Christmas eve, and he seemed nice enough, but adoption?!?!

So, how was you're weekend, dear reader?

But you can stil think we "hate America" if you want

2005-04-19T12:02:00.000-04:00

Rox Populi has a nice post asking What's So Great About America? The comments give some wonderful answers, from the things we don't like to admit (yes, we do like our junk food) to the things that make you smile (beautiful and varied landscapes), but the most important ones, and I think much of what keeps me here, is that it's our country too, and we're not giving it up.

There's something just odd about Norwegian rap

2005-03-31T15:55:00.000-05:00

Even political Norwegian rap. Or maybe it's just the dancing newscasters.

This is the video from the Norwegian communist rap group Gatas Parlament that was banned last fall for lyrics that called for killing The Shrub. Personally, I have more of a problem with it being RAP in NORGEGIAN. But maybe that's because I kind of like the sentiment of the song ;)

Anyhow, the video has subtitles so you don't have to actually understand Norwegian.

Yet strangely I still find them more credible than FOX

2005-03-29T09:49:00.000-05:00

In my next life, I want to be a writer for Weekly World News. Now, there is certainly nothing wrong with being an artist's model, I was one myself for a few years, but just the thought...

Most Americans are very familiar with Vice President Dick Cheney's distinguished career as a businessman and public servant -- but much less familiar with his work as a nude artist's model!

shudder

And the former "careers" of the other politicos are even better.

Kabarett 16-Bit - April 2005

2005-03-23T21:51:00.000-05:00

On Saturday April 9, 2005, The Ominous Collective presents their third in a series of the Kabarett 16 Bit, this time a very special occasion as Collective founders, electro-rock band Robotzen celebrate the release of their second CD "The Violence Factors In".

Special guest for the evening will be poet Catherine Sasanov, reading from her latest work about La Santa Muerte (St. Death) in Mexico City. Sasanov is the author of the poetry collections Traditions of Bread and Violence (Four Way Books) and All the Blood Tethers (Northeastern University Press). She is the librettist for the theater piece Las Horas de Belén: A Book of Hours commissioned by Mabou Mines. Over the past few years, Sasanov has received fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation, the NEA, and Mexico's National Fund for Culture and the Arts, all of which have helped her track down the relatives of a long dead Italian saint, bring to light the histories of women locked away in the religious sanctuary-turned-prison of Belen, and interview the followers of St. Death in Mexico City.

Also performing that evening will be Ominous Collective members Seven Sunless Days (gothic/industrial/darkwave) and The Illegitimate Theatre Company (performing, appropriately, an Appalachian snake charmer tune). Expect a selection of fiction by Edrie, scarves and mysteries by Badriya the belly dancer, improvised music, and other strange happenings.

Hosting the evening will be the ever trashy diva Jutta.

$6 Donation
*****************************************

Saturday April 9th 7pm-11-30pm
Zeitgeist Gallery
1353 Cambridge Street
Inman Square
Cambridge
617-876-6060

Bad me! Not enough Posting!

2005-03-18T12:27:00.001-05:00

So Katell is on spring break and stopped by the office today. It was good to see her, but she berated me (okay, in a nice way) about not updating.

So, what's been new with me? (like you care)
Got an upgrade and raise at work. Now I can work long hours without over-time pay! Oh Boy!
The Doc is coming to visit in April. With luck, I'll get most of that week off from work too.
The Om Coll's Kabaretts at the Zeitgeist are going well. The third one of this year will be April 9 and should be a fabulous show. I'll post the press release and poster when it's finished.
My Om Coll persona now has her own web presence too. It kind sucks right now, but I've not been working to hard on it lately. And I've been doing most of it in a text editor.

Blog Junky

2005-03-15T11:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I haven't writen a damned thing in over a month. But I swear it's just because I've been too busy reading other people's blogs (and working and school and listening to BBC 7). My life has changed since Salon started their blog roundup The Daou Report and I'm wasting my life reading the right wing diatribes. Actually, it's quite fun and they all have the same way of writing too: short, punchy sentences, "folksy" false self-deprication.

It's just a click

2005-02-05T15:43:00.000-05:00

My friend who often sends me chain letter type things (although not nearly as much as my dad!) sent me this link to The Animal Rescue Site. Basically click the button in there and food gets donated. No effort on your part other than a click from my site and a click on theirs. And you get a warm, fuzzy feeling afterward.

Happy Birthday to Me

2005-01-20T11:32:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Biiiiirthday to meeeeee
Happy Birthday to me.

Hey, I gotta do something besides get drunk to keep my spirits up on inauguration day.

The Asshole in Chief.

2005-01-04T08:59:00.000-05:00

And what the hell is wrong with Bush? Gee, I'm sorry Sri Lanka isn't a swing state, but cough up some friggin' dough. And how DARE you claim that bullshit of the US leading the world on giving when you knew full well that European nations were pledging more to begin with. You should not have to be shamed into this. If you hadn't been leaching BILLIONS out of my taxes for MURDER then maybe you wouldn't be trying to raise funds by asking us to do it for you.
--
And here are some figures to consider.

Happy New Year

2005-01-03T08:10:00.000-05:00

I don't make New Year's resolutions, but I have resolved to give money to the Red Cross International Response Fund. Please do as well.

Crossing Fingers

2004-12-20T14:26:00.000-05:00

The Doc has an interview tomorrow (quick work!) for a job in London. I'm a bit miffed though that they said his CV sucked since I wrote it. I based it on the 100 or so resumes I looked at this year when we were hiring, plus looking at sample ones from the UK as well as keeping scanability in mind. What more did they want?

Happy F*cking Christmas

2004-12-16T08:29:00.000-05:00

The Doc got laid off yesterday. This is yet another of those times when he should be bowing down and tongue-kissing the English soil he lives on. While he may be out of a job, and London has kicked his arse so much that he's become a walking example of Murphy's Law (forced to move five times in a year, jacket containing keys, mobile phone and passport stolen, hit by a fucking VAN and breaking both wrists, and now a lay-off), he still doesn't have to worry about COBRA or it's alternative (being completely uninsured and having to risk getting sick and going into debit from medical bills), and their unemployment rate is really low now, and the unemployment benefits are still there in the interim.

He's going to move back north, which I think will be good for him. I'm trying to talk him into city living up there once he gets back on his feet too. And he's looking into going to school too, which I think would be fantastic. It would give him something to do (this is the guy who programs when he's not at work because he's bored) and help him in the job market. And I bet he'd love the mental stimulation.

Life, lemons. Make cocktails.

Slack

2004-12-09T15:56:00.000-05:00

You know, I may totally slack on blogging, but at least I've written something since June, unlike some people.

Of course writing while at work might not be the best thing <>

Weird cat

2004-12-01T00:41:00.000-05:00

He was vomitting on Thanksgiving but has been FAMISHED since then. Tonight I was having some Annie's with veggies and Quorn after I'd fed him and he was still trying to mooch food. But was he trying to mooch the cheesey pasta? No. He was going after the carrots.

Who are these pod people?

2004-11-04T09:20:00.000-05:00

How to they manage to walk and breathe at the same time?

How can someone have blinders to focused that they can say abortion is wrong so kill to stop it? How can they be "pro-life" and support war?

Why do they want their children coming home in body bags while they loose their jobs and face millions in personal debt because when they were admitted to the hospital they had no insurance? Were these people eating paint chips as children?

No, we don't need to "reach out" to the red states. They are a different country and we should treat them with cool distance. We are not a "United" States any more. It's time to face that.

Oh, and I'm really pissed off that Moby blogged a split of the country before I did. But he's to pious to climb into a bottle and hide under the blankets like I did instead of blogging.

(I'm better now. But still binging on candy)

Fuck me! WE DID IT!

2004-10-27T23:44:00.000-04:00

Eighty-six fucking years!!!! But we did it!!! I could weep with joy.

It's the top of the eighth...

2004-10-27T22:55:00.000-04:00

...and we are so fucking close

World Series Bound! Fuckin A!

2004-10-21T01:03:00.000-04:00

They did it! They fucking did it! And my man Johnny ROCKS!

Johnny Damon, Johnny Damon
Johnny Damon, Johnny Damon
You're an angel to me

Johnny Damon
How I love him
How I tingle
When he hits that ball
Everytime the Yankees fall
My heart begins to fly

Johnny Damon
How I want him
He's got something
That fans can't resist
And he makes Derek Jeter
Really damned pissed

I'm in heaven
I get carried away
I dream of him and Sox
And how he really rocks
Other fellows
They may hit a homerun
But when they all are done
My Johnny is more fun

My Johnny Damon
How we love him
And I pray
That someday he will see
Sox win World Serie'
How lovely Heaven will be

Sox win World Serie'
How lovely Heaven will be

Stretching for the rhyme there at the end, but it's late, and you get the point.

Fucking baseball

2004-10-19T23:36:00.000-04:00

I'm exhausted and I need to go to bed but I checked the fucking scores anyway. It's the top of the nineth and we're up 2, but I know I can't go to bed until after the inning. If it goes into extrea innings I'll go to bed and hear it in the morning, but I can't just leave it during regular play.

And I'm not even a sports fan, dammit! But This Could Be THE YEAR!

Random

2004-10-04T10:38:00.000-04:00

My landlord called me at work from my apartment to tell me he sat down on the couch (he's there while the windows are being finished) and the cat came over to curl up next to him. While he called, the cat dozed off and he just thought it was a very cute scene.

Just thgought I'd share.

I got in!

2004-09-22T11:43:00.000-04:00

Advanced Acting, here I come!

Audition

2004-09-21T20:48:00.000-04:00

If I get in to both classes this semester, I'm going to have a hell of a lot of work. I'm taking Actor/Director Collaboration: Beckett, Pinter, and Mamet, which requires us to direct one piece and act in two. Tonight I auditioned to get in to Advanced Acting, which will require scene work throughout the semester as well.

While there weren't a lot of people who I thought were a lot better than me during the audition monologues (but there were a couple who were really good), I still thought I didn't have a chance. But after class I went up and asked on behalf of a former student of his who is in my Monday class if he, the student, could have a copy of any handouts. Marcus clearly remembered this guy and liked him and said he didn't mind if I gave him copies. Of course, for me to be able to do that, I'd have to be in the class. :) So I guess I have a shot after all.

Satan Lives?

2004-09-09T21:54:00.000-04:00

And for once it's not about hockey.

In any other country

2004-09-09T08:19:00.000-04:00

With the election coming up, I think it's time to revisit the last presidential "election." In any other country, what happened in 2000 would be cause for international censure for corruption. It was the sort of thing the US military is sent in to "fix" to make a place "democratic." I guess Tom Lehrer was right when he sang:

For might makes right,
And till they've seen the light,
They've got to be protected,
All their rights respected,
'Till somebody we like can be elected.

For your amusement:
Grand Theft America

Poor Kitty. Poor bank account.

2004-09-07T20:24:00.000-04:00

Good thing I love that cat. Last night he started peeing blood again and was very uncomfortable (scootching, licking, etc.) so I brought him in to the vet tonight. V happy for a vet with late hours! It turns out there are two types of feline urinary crystals. He's been treated for struvite crystals, but apparently that treatment can bring on calcium oxalate crystals, and vice versa. We may have tipped the balance with his dietary regulation for the struvite. So he had a urine sample taken and the lab results should be in tomorrow night or Thursday. In the meantime, it's hydration, hydration, hydration (he even had sub-dermal liquids given).

$112, plus fair for 2 cab rides (no fun with a cat), later and he's still irritated. Sigh. I just wish there was something I could do to make him feel better.

In

2004-09-03T10:37:00.000-04:00

I think I'm finally all moved in to the new place. I have no idea where anything is (now where did I pack the pads? Not a good morning to discover those missing) and I'm having to climb over boxes to get everywhere.

I unpacked five boxes of videos last night and cleared enough space to put the TV table in place and set the TV on it (two spaces down, eighty zillion to go), but then I felt daunted by the prospect and just had dinner and read discussion forums.

And on the web surfing note, big slam to Verizon for not having dial-up software for OS X. My DSL takes 10 days to transfer so I was going to sign up for dial-up, but the modem on the Dell desktop is having issues. So having a brand new (to me) iBook (and many thanks Steve for the old RobotZen gig machine) I thought I'd just use that. But no, Verizon can't keep up. But NetZero can (and Lindows too). And that service FLIES! I've never had dial-up that good. If it wasn't tying up the phone line, I might think about just keeping that.

Tonight the kitchen gets organized and I'll try to get enough space to put the dining table in place and set up the couch.

WHY AREN'T THEY GONE YET?!?!?!!?

2004-08-30T23:23:00.000-04:00

While they said I could start moving things in while they're moving stuff out, and even gave me their spare set of keys (the one to the apartment is about to break and needs to be replaced pronto), I am not at all comfortable with this. Especially as the first thing I need to move in is a rug (could you just move all your shit so I can spread this out? thanks) and then furniture. Sure I could start loading some boxes in to the hall closet (which is huge, but not as huge and barren as the one in my dream), but they still have a few things there too. And I've been in there and it would take me all of 10 minutes to clear out what was left TWO HOURS AGO! And I think they might even be staying the night! Which means I can't get started until noon tomorrow. FUCK FUCK FUCK

Fire

2004-08-30T13:13:00.000-04:00

I dreamed last night that I was at a crematorium. I was alive, but was supposed to be going in too. At the last minute I backed out of it. Then it swiched to a park and I could hear sirens. The sirens got louder and louder and wouldn't stop, and eventually I reaized I wasn't dreaming the sound. Then I smelled smoke.

I sat bolt upright and looked out the bedroom window to see a column of black smoke coming from a couple of blocks away. In the early morning light, you could see sparks above the trees behind which was the fire. The cracking sound of wood being eaten by flames was audible even with the sirens blaring.

I haven't gone to see yet who got burned out this morning.

If they hadn't spent the last five hours watching sports...

2004-08-29T19:14:00.000-04:00

...I might be moving in tonight. As it is, I have to face the fact that this is not going to happen and I'll be doing MUCH more moving on Tuesday than I planned. But they seem to be having a lovely time down there, drinking beer, eating and watching TV.

I feel such a Bitch Goddess mode coming on. I want to go down and pack for them and kick them the hell out. However, as they technically have the place until Tuesday, even though they said they would be out by today (not eventually today, but actually actively moving out this weekend (by which I mean yesterday too)), I guess I can't really do anything. Except be really pissed off and happy that the frat boys are leaving. Eventually. Maybe.

Didn't I read this in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency?

2004-08-29T14:03:00.000-04:00

New downstairs neighbors are moving in today. Apparently they were a bit too optimistic about getting their couch in and it is now wedged in the doorway. Really wedged. Like they have to climb over the end to get in to the livingroom and under it to get out of the apartment. Unless a doorway sudenly opens up, I think they're going to have to hack it up.

***************

Update: The got it out of the doorway and the couch is now on end in the hall next to their apartment.

And the guys in 23 are watching sports instead of packing (yes, I am packing today! Just took one more bag of clothes down to the trash and may have to do two trips to the Goodwill).

Boys, boys, boys!

2004-08-29T12:41:00.000-04:00

So everyone who has heard about what my new place looks like with the decorating skills of the guys in it now has rolled their eyes, and sometimes made the occational "frat boy" reference (could it be the pictures of bikini-clad beer models on the walls?). Well, that is not too far off. I told the guy who lives below them that I would be moving in and his first reaction was relief. Apparently the boys are rather noisy, often stomping around. And I saw one of the guys today and he said they opted to forgo packing yesterday in favor of going to a bachelor party. So they're hungover and moving furniture in the heat today. I'm not actual feeling much sympathy for them.

They want to get everything out today and then come back tomorrow to clean, but I told them not to bother with the cleaning and that I would do it. I'm getting too antsy and want in NOW.

It's too darned hot

2004-08-28T14:53:00.000-04:00

Too hot to pack. Too daunting to pack too.

Wrapped up the CD tower in plastic last night. Hopefully I can manage that on my own (packing the disks just to move the tower and then refill it was not an option), but if not it should go like a breeze with two people. And I now have two people to help me move, so I think that will be enough. I need to measure my dresser and the back stairway sometime today. There's no curve in that stairway so I think if it's wide enough, that's the best bet for getting the furniture down. And it ends practically in front of the door to my new place.

Before it got unbearable today I managed to pack a box of hats, one of shoes, one of books (yes, I'm still finding books to pack) and some kitchen stuff, most of which was already in a box, having never been unpacked since I moved to Boston (and why would I unpack a roasting pan? It's not like I cook turkeys any more).

I took down the plants and the remaining pictures too. I still need to get some height and get the plant hook down, but that shouldn't be too bad. Will probably just disassemble the couch and move the table over to put the step ladder on. Standing on the window sill is too precarious for me, as I discovered when I took down the curtain rod. Ugh, and I have two more curtain rods in the bedroom that need to come down!

Last night I dreamed that I started to move in to my new place and it was nothing like I remembered it. In the dream, you entered in to a large, windowless room with a dropped ceiling with acoustic tile and indoor/outdoor carpeting on the floor. From there you went in to the kitchen/livingroom (which is what the actual entrance to the apartment looks like (and yes, the kitchen is in the livingroom, much like my old sublet)). The old tenants had left dozens of folding metal chairs, which I decided to store in the closet (that only exists in the dream apartment), which turned out to be a HUGE storage space behind sliding plywood doors. The whole place was just ghastly! I don't think there was a single window in there, which is obviously playing to my being upset about leaving an apartment with so much amazing light.

I just want to be moved in and done with it. And all decorated and living in a lovely, homey place.

you|like|the|ugly|sweat|ing|manyou|want|himdo|not

2004-08-25T09:29:00.000-04:00

Took the magnets off the 'fridge last night, including the poetry set that covered the freezer door. Some of those things, like teh sentiments above, have been on since we moved in. The 'fridge looks very lonely and bare now.

Finally sinking in

2004-08-16T08:36:00.000-04:00

Roomie leaves this week. It's finally hitting me that my friend who I have lived with for the past nine years will be going to Texas, only to be seen over the occational school break. I am completely, and utterly depressed.

Stereo! Bookcases! Dressers! Oh My! (but no couch)

2004-08-07T22:32:00.000-04:00

I just heard random thumping from the apartment I'm moving in to, with comments about a bronken door casing. I just mailed the lease this morning, so I was a bit concerned and asked them what was up. The apratment's fine, but the appolgized for the mess ("We're taking everthing to the dumpster, don't worry." "Worry? You haven't seen my place, dude.") and offered to leave anything I want. The couch I like is, unfortunately, structurally damaged, but they said they'd leave me all the bookcases (small ones) and the stereo. And there are random dressers for all the new clothes I'll buy once I throw my old ones out in the move. Um, not that I'll need more clothes.

Cute quiz

2004-08-06T19:02:00.000-04:00

Katell sent me the How Britsh are You quiz. Turns out I'm 50% British. Funny, I was expecting more. Maybe it's my not giving a crap about sport(s). Of course being a Harvard person probably bumped thing up with the 300 year old question ;-)

It's a good thing I don't watch TV...

2004-08-06T08:58:00.000-04:00

... or I would be inundated with political ads. However, I really do love this Will Ferrell ad from White House West.
Enjoy.

CIA Asks Bush To Discontinue Blog

2004-08-04T10:59:00.000-04:00

Or Why I love The Onion.

WASHINGTON, DCIn the interest of national security, President Bush has been asked to stop posting entries on his three-month-old personal web log, acting CIA director John E. McLaughlin said Monday.

According to McLaughlin, several recent entries on PrezGeorgeW. typepad.com have compromised military operations, while other posts may have seriously undercut the PR efforts of White House press secretary Scott McClellan.

The best part is that some enterprising soul decided to get the address PrezGeorgeW.typepad.com and start up George's Blog.