little turkey

Summer

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:13:59 GMT

Shane

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 04:00:22 GMT

So my nephew? Pretty damn cute.

Birthday times.

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:55:10 GMT

Yesterday it was my birthday. I am now 26 years old.

My mother and my mother-in-law got me identical oxo top-view measuring cups, independently of each other. It was strange. But I am now very well equipped to measure any liquid at a moment's notice.

What more can you ask for in a birthday?

Twitter Book Club

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:39:58 GMT

You're invited!

Twilight.

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:51:19 GMT

Have you read Twilight? Do you hate yourself for it?

I'm starting a book club on Twitter and this is the first book. It seems people either love it, hate it and think it's anti-feminist slop, or both at the same time. I'm willing to find out...

Never gonna give you up

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 21:55:49 GMT

Rick Astley personally rickrolled the Macy's parade.

Wait, what?

Election

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:48:40 GMT

My cats have decided to support baCroc O'Llama. They said the smear campaign, "O'Llama, what a croc!" run by Swan McCrane didn't sway them.

But I think that no matter what, the cats just wouldn't vote a bird into office. Stewart says it's a classic case of the Bluejay Effect, but it's probably also because we already have a lame duck president.

BaCroc O'Llama:

Swan McCrane:

Tudors, anyone?

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:06:15 GMT

I've been reading a book about Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, and I decided, Elizabeth was a hermaphrodite.

Who's with me?

Anyone?

Anyone?

Surely 500 year old gossip has to matter to someone besides me.

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:30:47 GMT

I just used a neti pot. It wasn't bad at all.

Back in the States

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:52:46 GMT

stone_reader and I are back from England. We had a great trip. Click here for photos.

England!

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:40:14 GMT

I'm leaving the country with stone_reader in a few hours. I'll see if I can actually post updates while I'm gone. I'll definitely be posting photos to flickr if I find a decent internet connection.

Goodbye, my lovies!

Confidential to samfeasor: I'll email you when I get in, if only to establish that my phone actually works over there. Also, I bought you a spoon rest.

Go Outside.

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:45:07 GMT

This is a reminder to myself to go outside before the world freezes. It's nice out there.

England!

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:57:59 GMT

stone_reader and I have been planning a trip to England. This is where it looks like we're going:

We're going to hit up Bath first (Roman Baths!), then head to York (walled city!), then go to Whitby (home of Bram Stoker, Captain Cook, pterodactyl fossils, a Hand of Glory, and a slug-operated barometer!). Then we're taking the train back down to London and hang out there for 3 1/2 days, with a possible day trip to include Stonehenge and Oxford.

I'm so excited. Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with samfeasor while we're there. Sam, do you have any interest in a Stonehenge/Oxford/Windsor Castle day trip on one of the days your sister is working?

England ho!

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:37:22 GMT

I am planning a trip to England!

I know that some of you have been. Recommendations/suggestions?

Eeeeep!

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:41:36 GMT

I am trying to embroider. It's not going too badly, actually. I saw this cute tea towel someone did on flickr:

and decided it'd be a good first project, since I already own the kit that has those designs in it. It's coming along alright, but it doesn't look as good as the one above. I may not end up posting photos of my own embroidery (I know you're all soooo disappointed...ha), so just imagine a kind of crappy/lopsided version of the photo above.

It also has the side-effect of me looking at every piece of fabric in my house and wondering if I should embroider it. I know, in my heart of hearts, I shouldn't embroider swear words on the couches, but a prettily-stitched "asshat" would really liven up the place, don't you think? And I saw (somewhere on the internet) that someone embroidered a uterus and ovaries onto her underwear, and that looked pretty awesome.

The crafty part of my brain must be hyperactive, because I have made a muppet (it is blue) and now I want to sew a skirt. For me. And maybe one for the muppet.

Also, I'm sad because we "invested" in crappy particle-board bookshelves years back, and now they are saggy and gross looking. And over-full. If I were to replace our crappy ones with nice ones, I'd probably need to buy five, and that's a lot of moolah.

I'm thinking I should name my sewing machine.

piss and moan.

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:38:17 GMT

I fell asleep on my face, and now my left eye has blurred vision.

Stewart is hand-sewing a muppet. He is orange.

I'm hot. Too hot.

I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife, it was good but now I'm sad.

I want to make dinner but I can't bear to purposely make anything hotter than it is right now, even food.

I am rather cranky at the moment.

WAHHHH.

Productivity-Dongle Activate!

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:01:51 GMT

I have been making a valiant stab at becoming a better email responder in the last few days.

Usually I get emails, and I read them and think about them, but while I'm thinking about them, I get other emails that push the previous emails into a crowd of other emails, and then I see something shiny and remember I forgot to read a web comic and then everything falls apart. Then it's two months later and the person emails me again thinking their email must have gotten caught in my spam filter.

No, it didn't, I'm just a terrible person. I start WAY too many emails with, "So sorry for the delay!" Ugh.

I had well over 1000 emails in my inbox, and I finally cleared them all out. I deleted those which were crap, archived those which I didn't need, and responded to a bunch I should have a long time ago. I even now have a special folder labeled "VYY Needs Reply" where I can place all the blog related emails I get but don't feel like responding to right away. This is working out great. I've been adding the emails to it the last few days, and today I sat down and responded to 24 of them.

24!

That is unprecedented productivity for yours truly. However, this is also how I work. I let things (anything, really) pile up forever, then I turn into PRODUCTIVE GIRL and fix my life up in a highly-focused frenzy. Lather, rinse, repeat. This usually isn't a problem, especially when it involves things that only affect me (like laundry), but it's a pretty crappy way to behave when other people are involved. One of these days I'll be a real adult and learn to take care of my shit when it needs taking care of. Maybe.

Right now I only have two emails in my inbox, one from my old and great best friend Laura, and one from my new and great best friend Sam. And I've contacted to both of them today, so I am hardly tardy when it comes to them.

I just wrote a whole entry on responding to email. Sorry about that.

Boston Pride 2008

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 21:31:33 GMT

Fresh Tossed Salads.

I <3 Pride.

Neighbors!

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:12:51 GMT

My crazy downstairs neighbors who scream at each other ALL THE TIME are moving! Hooray!

Though, I might miss the moments when Stewart and I are quietly reading and we hear a shriek of, "GOD DAMMIT, PAUL!" Never failed to make us laugh. Because really, they're fighting is SO ridiculous and SO over the top, it quickly went from frightening to hysterical. Especially once we realized they would never kill each other, because if they did they wouldn't be able to keep fighting.

Cone's Tea Ceremony!

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:22:55 GMT

I got to take photos at Cone's tea ceremony today! It was beautiful, and the tea was yummy.

Um. No?

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:28:12 GMT

I was at the salon today getting my hair toned (and looking at it now, I don't even know if I can actually tell the difference), when another client turned to me. He was dressed in a suit, mid-forties maybe. He said:

"How old are you, young lady?"

"Old enough?"

"What does an 8 ball go for these days?"

"Um, I don't do coke, so I don't know."

-----

I swear my salon is not nearly as sketchy as you might now believe it to be.

Bipedal.

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:52:05 GMT

I'm thinking about getting my bicycle tuned up and trying to start riding again. Ever since I fell off in front of a bus, I've been not-so-keen about riding it.

Ideally, I'd like to spend more time outside and get some exercise and wokka wokka wokka.

But falling! In front of BUSSES. Not my idea of a good time.

Who rides in the city? How do you not die every four seconds?

white light everywhere, but you can't see a thing

Thu, 29 May 2008 19:03:28 GMT

Whoa. I'm a rockstar.*

(A rockstar who thinks she needs to head back to the salon for some toner.)

*independently verified by husband and sister.

Boobies.

Sat, 24 May 2008 14:40:43 GMT

Underwear is officially harder to shop for than jeans.

I'm not talking about regular everyday cotton stuff that I can (and do) get from Target. I'm talking about nicer stuff and bras.

I realized that I had one bra...one! My boobs do not overfloweth or anything, but I do like to wear a bra when I leave the house. And I have one. One! I used to have some fun underwear in college, but it all either got destroyed in dryers, lost, or it never really fit me in the first place so it just sat hopefully in my underwear drawer.

When I realized I had one bra, and that perhaps I should invest in another, I wasn't sure where to go. I don't really like Victoria's Secret. It's so PINK. Have you been in there recently? It looks like MTVs Spring Break vomited g-strings and terry cloth shorts all over the walls. And no I don't want to put this on an Angel Card. And they only carry one bra (one!) in my size. Guess where my one bra is from?

So I looked up undies online and found a place called Intimacy. They do bra fittings, and everyone says that they're super great and you get all sorts of choices and your bras all fit really well wokka wokka wokka.

So I went! It was not a good idea.

The merchandise section of the store is barricaded by a huge receptionist desk.

"Hi! Are you looking for anything specific today?"

"Um, yeah, I was hoping to get some underwear. And, a fitting?"

"Well, do you have an appointment?"

"No..."

"Well... Let me check the walk-in list. Yeah, looks like it's going to be two hours minimum."

"Oh."

"If you want to go shopping somewhere else in the meantime, I can call your cell when we're ready for you."

"Oh, no thanks. Is there any way I can just look around myself and try stuff on?"

"Um. Sure. But, all our sizes are European."

"Do you--"

"Have a conversion chart? No."

"Well if I told you my size, could you give me a rough idea?"

"I'm not a fitter."

"Well then, thanks anyway."

Hello? I WANT TO GIVE YOU MY MONEY. WHY ARE YOU MAKING THIS SO DIFFICULT?

I had a Free Underwear card from Victoria's Secret, and there is one in the same shopping complex, so I decided to go in. Best case scenario, I'd get a free pair of underwear and a few bras. Worst case, free undies! I was wrong here, too.

"Hi, is there anything I can help you with today?"

"Yes! Can you tell me which of your styles come in 32D?"

"We don't carry 32s."

"Well, you carry at least one style, because I'm wearing it right now."

"When was that? We started phasing out all 32s six months ago."

"Yeah, it was a while ago."

"Have you tried on the Sister Size? The 34C might fit you."

"No, it doesn't, I've tried."

"Well you should look in the sale bins in the back. There might be some 32s left over there. I feel your pain, I'm a 32, too. I don't know why they're not carrying them anymore."

Of course there wasn't anything for me in the sale pile, so I moved on to my Free Underwear goal.

"Hi, I have this card for a free pair of underwear. Is this the table?"

"Yes. But. Let me see, you can only choose a solid color, like white, pink or black, and it has to be $7.50 or less."

There literally wasn't a single pair of underwear that I wanted, even FOR FREE. Fail.

Frustrated, and desperate to give someone my money in exchange for a decent bra that actually fits, I walked through the Public Gardens, through Boston Common and up into Beacon Hill, far away from the malls, and walked into a tiny little boutique called French Dressing.

The door was open, and I was greeted warmly by the owner.

"Hi, can I help you find anything?"

"Yes, do you have anything in 32D?"

"Oh, yeah. Are you looking for something regular or fun?"

"Fun."

"I'll be right back!"

The woman went down to the basement and came back up with 7 bras in all different styles and colors. All my size! And they ALL FIT. Now, I couldn't afford all of them (and I really am not the HOT PINK BOWS type anyway), but what a nice feeling. I explained to the owner my former trials, and she said, "As long as Victoria's Secret doesn't carry 32s, I will. It's not like you're some strange shape. There are a lot of woman with your body type and they're unable to find anything decent at the mall."

I spent a decent chunk of change on a matching bra and undie set (a matching set! I haven't had one of those for at least seven years. SEVEN.) and a little Eberjey chemise for sleeping. But I realized there really isn't a middle ground for me. (Well, if you can even call Victoria's Secret's $50 bras middle ground...) I can go to Target and get an uncomfortable bra that will fall apart after three handwashes so the underwire can rust and poke me in the boob and give me tetanus, or I can go to a crazy expensive boutique, but get exactly what I want with nice service to boot.

So now I have TWO bras. But it feels good. Maybe in another year I can have three.

Oh.

Mon, 19 May 2008 00:32:51 GMT

There's a vegan ice cream store opening in Boston. Well, it just opened this weekend. The "Grand Opening" as it were.

Being a vegan who lives in Boston, this makes me very excited. I've been following their development for months now. They never said when, or where they'd be opening, but there was a decent amount of press. I heard that their ice cream might be sold somewhere locally, like at a cafe or something, so I emailed them to figure out how I could purchase some. They said they were out of town, but would hook me up when they got back. Awesome!

Then I didn't hear anything from them. Until yesterday. I got an email saying this weekend was their grand opening. Hoooray!

Stewart and I made a special trip there. I was going to bring my camera, but decided against it because it was raining. We got there, and were kind of.... confused...

The place had no sign. No decorations. It smelled like wet paint (all white). There were no menus. There wasn't even any sign of ice cream. There was a woman working behind a counter, sitting in front of a macbook with an ipod attached. In an empty, echoing, unlit room. That was IT.

"Hi! What flavors do you have?" (I was trying to be optimistic.)

"Um.. peanut butter."

"That's it?"

"Yeah, want a taste?"

Then she disappeared into the back room and came back a few minutes later with some ice cream on tiny spoons. I'm not sure where she went or where the ice cream even came from. A cooler in the back? No idea.

Unfortunately I don't like peanut butter ice cream, so while I tried some, I didn't end up purchasing any. Stewart got a cup. They didn't have cones. They didn't have anything. It's like the previous tenant moved out, the landlord painted everything white and handed over the keys to the new ice cream people. They unlocked the doors, brought in a computer, one pint of ice cream, and a few plastic cups.

And declared it their Grand Opening.

I've never been so underwhelmed in my life.

I noticed that their grand opening notice didn't mention hours of operation, but three specific dates.

"So, when are you going to be open again?"

"Umm... Maybe next weekend?"

"Maybe? Same hours?"

"We don't really know. We're still... working it out."

"Oh. Will you have more.... selection?"

"I don't know..."

I want to support them, because vegan business = YayHappyFunAwesomeTimes!! But they're so very unprepared to be open at the moment. It's almost embarrassing.

Give me an afternoon at Ikea, or even a local thrift store, and I could make the place look welcoming, even if it was a little sparce. More than one flavor would have been great, cones would be fantastic, and even a chalkboard menu would be nice (though I suppose there's no point in having a menu if you only have one option on it). Anything that, you know, would lead you to believe that this was a business? That sold ice cream? Hell, I'd be happy if they could just tell me their hours of operation so I'd know when I could come back.

I'm definitely going to give them a second chance, but they broke my little vegan ice cream heart. :(